Skip to content
Search AI Powered

Latest Stories

WATCH: Barack Obama Makes Birther Joke During Speech

WATCH: Barack Obama Makes Birther Joke During Speech
Make us preferred on Google

During a speech at the first Obama Foundation Summit in Chicago on Tuesday, former President Barack Obama cracked a joke poking fun at "birthers" who are convinced that Obama was not born in the United States, and therefore should not have been eligible to be the president.


At one point in his speech, Obama expressed his joy at being back in Chicago, where he started his political career in the 1980s.

"The reason I’m so excited to see you all here today in part is because this is where I started," he told the crowd.

"Now, this isn’t where I was born, I was born in Kenya," he mused. After some laughter, he added: "That’s a joke."

The joke came at the expense of Donald Trump, who spent almost a decade pushing the theory that Obama was born in Kenya, and worked Obama detractors into a frenzy after he demanded that Obama produce a birth certificate that could prove he was indeed born in the United States.

Eventually, in 2011, a "short-form" and "long-form" birth certificate were released to the public, showing that Obama was born in Honolulu, Hawaii in 1961.

During the White House Correspondents' Dinner held later that week, Obama made some jokes at Trump's expense, saying: "Donald Trump is here tonight! Now, I know that he’s taken some flak lately, but no one is happier, no one is prouder to put this birth certificate matter to rest than the Donald. And that’s because he can finally get back to focusing on the issues that matter—like, did we fake the moon landing? What really happened in Roswell? And where are Biggie and Tupac?"

While many birthers have held onto the notion that Obama was born in Kenya and that the birth certificates were fakes, Trump eventually conceded in September of 2016 that Obama was born in the United States.

He has yet to apologize for starting and perpetuating the rumor, however.

Twitter applauded Obama for keeping his sense of humor in tact:

But keeping to their conspiratorial roots, the birthers took the joke as an admission:

Beside the joke, Obama had some other important things to talk about, including the notion that we should strive against partisan politics.

"The moment we're in right now, politics is the tail and not the dog," he said. "And what we need to do is to think about our civic culture. Because what's wrong with our politics is in part is a reflection of something wrong in our civic culture, not just here in the United States, but in many places around the world."

Wise words from a wise man.

Please SHARE this with your friends and family.

H/T: Huffington Post, Twitter, Newsweek

More from People/donald-trump

Alex Call; Sydney Sweeney; Megan Fox
Megan Briggs/Getty Images; XNY/Star Max/GC Images; Presley Ann/Getty Images for GQ)

Dodgers Player Blasts MLB Over Provocative Ads Featuring Sydney Sweeney And Megan Fox

Los Angeles Dodgers player Alex Call has called out Major League Baseball and all its broadcasters for a series of ads featuring actors Sydney Sweeney and Megan Fox.

Call called the provocative ads "soft-core porn" and said they're making it impossible for him to watch baseball with his young son. Call's post was in response to one by X creator Taylor Murphy, owner of a security company based in Utah.

Keep ReadingShow less
JD Vance

JD Vance Dragged After Awkwardly Stumbling Over The Phrase 'English Proficiency'—And It's Irony At Its Finest

In April 2025, MAGA Republican President Donald Trump signed an executive order intended to step up enforcement of stricter English language requirements for commercial truck drivers.

It came on the heels of Trump's largely unenforceable executive order declaring English as the official language of the United States—another part of Project 2025's White nationalist agenda.

Keep ReadingShow less
Screenshot of Tim Scott
Fox News

Republican Sen. Tim Scott's Bizarre Remark About Wanting Kids To Grow Up In Poverty Sparks Backlash

Republican Senator Tim Scott of South Carolina raised eyebrows this week for saying during a Fox News interview that he hopes the next generation can grow up in poverty "like I did."

Scott has previously spoken about his childhood, notably his childhood and adolescent experiences in working-class poverty with his mother and siblings, so you'd think he'd be much more sympathetic to Americans feeling the crunch of a nationwide affordability crisis that has provoked public discontent with the Republican Party.

Keep ReadingShow less
Screenshot of Donald Trump speaking to reporters
Fox News

Trump Does Complete 180 After Discovering Female Reporter He Just Blasted As 'Fake News' Works For Right-Wing Outlet

President Donald Trump was criticized after doing a complete 180 after discovering that a reporter who'd asked a question about ongoing demonstrations in France works for The Daily Wire, a far-right publication.

Students and others around France have been protesting for weeks over high living costs and declining public services. French authorities have announced plans to deploy troops amid scenes of violence as demonstrators clash with riot police.

Keep ReadingShow less
James Comer; Donald Trump
Tom Williams/CQ-Roll Call, Inc via Getty Images; Eric Lee/Getty Images

MAGA Rep. James Comer's Warning About Democrats Investigating Trump Has Everyone Thinking The Same Thing​

In a visit to Sunday Night in America with Trey Gowdy on Fox News, Kentucky MAGA Republican Representative James Comer warned the right-wing media audience that should Democrats win in the midterms, they would recklessly spend taxpayer dollars and turn a blind eye to rampant fraud.

Comer also told Gowdy:

Keep ReadingShow less