Poll: One in four Americans think Obama was not born in U.S.
GETTY
A quarter of all Americans incorrectly think President Obama was not born in the United States, according to a new CBS News/ New York Times poll.
Among all Republicans, 45 percent believe he was born in another country, as do 45 percent of Tea Party supporters, the poll shows.
Since the start of Mr. Obama's 2008 presidential campaign, rumors have existed that he was born outside of the United States. The "birther" myth has steadily persisted through Mr. Obama's presidency, in spite of overwhelming evidence he was born in the United States -- including his 1961 birth announcement, printed in two Hawaii newspapers.
Businessman and television personality Donald Trump has pushed the issue into the spotlight in recent weeks, insisting that he is unconvinced of Mr. Obama's origins. While Trump has used the issue to bring more attention to his possible Republican presidential bid, other Republicans are trying to tamp down the "birther" talk.
House Tea Party Caucus Chairwoman Michele Bachmann said recently that it's time to "move on" from the issue. Additionally, Arizona's Republican Gov. Jan Brewer recently vetoed a bill, penned in response to questions about Mr. Obama's origins, that would have made Arizona the first state to require presidential candidates to provide proof of their birth before getting on the state ballot.
The myth seems fated to live on, however, as a new book will come out next month entitled, "Where's the Birth Certificate?: The Case that Barack Obama is not Eligible to be President."
While 25 percent of all Americans in this new poll say Mr. Obama was born outside the U.S., 57 percent correctly said he was born in the United States. Another 18 percent said they did not know where he was born. Among Republicans, 33 percent said Mr. Obama was born in the U.S., and 22 percent said they did not know. Thirty-four percent of Tea Party supporters said the president was born in the U.S., while 21 percent said they didn't know.
More from the poll: GOP's 2012 contenders unknown, unloved
PDF: Read the complete poll results
This poll was conducted among a random sample of 1,224adults nationwide, interviewed by telephone April 15-20, 2011. The error due to sampling for results based on the entire sample could be plus or minus three percentage points. The error for subgroups is higher. An oversample of Republicans was also conducted for this poll, for a total of 543 interviews among this group. The results were then weighted in proportion to the average party distributions in previous 2011 CBS News and CBS News/New York Times Polls and in the random sample in this poll. The margin of error for Republicans is plus or minus four percentage points.
Popular in Politics
- Snowden: U.S. gov't destroyed my chance for fair trial 286 Comments
- Obama on NSA programs: Americans "not getting the complete story"
- Supreme Court strikes down Arizona voting law 691 Comments
- McCain demands answers from Obama on "secret" email accounts 93 Comments
- Amnesty Int'l calls for arrest of George W. Bush
- At G8, Obama announces launch of trade agreement negotiations
- Obama in Europe for G8 as Syria crisis looms large
- Jeb Bush: Parents "split" over my potential 2016 bid 159 Comments
It is why I no longer respect the Republican party. Racism is not a fringe element to them...it is their base.
@leliorisen
So....no bias there eh.
http://www.brasschecktv.com/page/1089.html
You emotional investment in having a black president or left-wing president is clouding your rational thought. Obama must demonstrate US nativity like all other presidents before him. His blackness gave him a free ride...Polozzi acted inappropriately but verbally (and not in writing) "certifying" that he fell within the Constitutional requirements. He did NOT! And THAT is why Chief Justice Roberts erred in his stateing the proper oath of office. That is why he hasd to re-do the oath in the East room later that day. Unfortunately simple, basic facts are being questioned by the left in a desperate act to conceal Obama's ineligibility. He was born in Kenya...It amuses me that the paternal step grandmother, who recalled with exquisite detail, her traditional Kenyan prayer that she said at the time of Obama's Mombasan delivery at Coast Province Hospital, should be disbelieved! This grandmother was "oh-so-proud- of her grandson being Kenyan-born that when Obama's handlers tried to "correct her" for the Reuters and AP "schweinhunds" by screaming out "NO, Hawaii...her was born in Hawaii!" ...she was flummoxed and felt terrible that a bunch of American press were telling her that her prized experience wasn't worth anything!!!!! What a horrible thing to do to an honest women who was proud of her grandson and her native land...Kenya. No matter how you slice it folks....Obama is either Kenyan -born, or he lost his US citizenship by his move to Indonesia for such a long time as a minor. In either case, he is not an American citizen now and WILL BE FOUND GUILTY OF ESPIONAGE...his knowledge of our nuclear secrets alone is enough reason to seek life imprisionment. And his wifey will be charged with treason because she knew the truth and did nothing to dissuade the criminal we call Obama from running for president...for God sakes...he's a colonial Brit!!!
I would not be concerned with san850 as I have found him to be close minded to any thought process other than his own and most people would call that a lemming...smile. Great comments Joe as you brought up a few things that I had forgotten about. By the way, look at his (according to san850) kenyon birth certificate and look at the typing...it was done on an actual typewriter and then look at the copy that was shown on the internet and tv of the so called Hawaiian short form birth certificate.....it was done with a computer of which Hawaii records dept did not have in 1961...smile.....All birth certificates back then were typed on regular typewriters.
- fixed beliefs that are certainly and definitely false.
- Expressing an idea or belief with unusual persistence or force.
- That idea appears to exert an undue influence on the person's life, and the way of life is often altered to an inexplicable extent.
- The individual tends to be humorless and oversensitive, especially about the belief.
- There is a quality of centrality: no matter how unlikely it is that these strange things are happening, the person accepts them relatively unquestioningly.
- An attempt to contradict the belief is likely to arouse an inappropriately strong emotional reaction, often with irritability and hostility.
- The patient is emotionally over-invested in the idea and it overwhelms other elements of their psyche.
You also absolutely ignore the fact that there were vast numbers of Obama haters who would have done ANYTHING to prevent his election to the Presidency, yet they didn't find this "Holy Grail" you all speak of with such certainty. This birther nonsense is an absurdity and laughing stock. Even most of the saner Repubs agree....it's only the extremist, radical, bigoted rightwingers and teabaggers who continue to chase this non-issue.