Birtherism is back, this time focusing on Democratic Vice Presidential candidate Kamala Harris. And the people accused of speaking to President Donald Trump about cable news have a lot of trouble defending his inability to directly condemn the racist attacks on his rival.
It was the oldest question that Fox News Sunday host Chris Wallace had for senior adviser to Trump campaign Steve Cortes. “Has the Trump campaign recognized President Trump recognizing that Kamala Harris is eligible for the next Vice President of the United States?” he asked.
“Yes, he made that very clear at his press conference yesterday,” Cortes replied. “He said this is not a problem that we will pursue.” Chief of Staff Mark Meadows used exactly the same language in his interview Sunday with CNN’s Jake Tapper, saying, “This is not something we will pursue.”
Noting that Trump “did not deviate from the claim,” Wallace said, “I wonder about that, because he was again offered the opportunity to deny the false claim that because her parents were immigrants, that she was not eligible. to run, even though she was born in the state of California. ”
President Trump was given a second chance to fully announce the suggestion that sen. Harris, who was born in Oakland, California, could be unreachable. Instead, the president praised the ‘brilliant’ author of the debunked op-ed that blew up the story. “If she had a problem, you’d think she’d be protected by Sleepy Joe,” Trump added.
“Isn’t this like the birther claims the president made against Barack Obama?” Wallace asked Cortes. ‘Nothing could be easier than to say it’s a false claim, she’s eligible. Not to say, ‘Well, I’m not going to make a problem of it.’ Why not just say it’s wrong, it’s false? ‘
Cortes again insists that Trump has made it “very clear” that he will not “pursue” these claims and pivot to attack “the media” for making it a problem. But Wallace was not satisfied.
“I’ll only print it once,” said the host. “You can accuse me of being one of those media people. Why not say it’s wrong, she’s eligible? It’s one thing to say, ‘I will not pursue it.’ It’s another thing to say, ‘It’s flat out wrong, she’s eligible to be vice president.’ Why does he not say that? ‘
“I do not know why it obliges him to take advice on the legal science of the Constitution and the 14th Amendment,” Cortes said in response. “I do not think this is his place as president. What he is saying is: “We have not made an issue of this, we will not make an issue of it. It is a non-starter from our point of view, for the president and for the campaign.”
Likemin on ABCs This week, Trump campaign spokesman Jason Miller said the issue of Harris’s eligibility is “case closed, end of story.” If that’s true, we’ll never hear another word from President Trump again.
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