The Trumps have hospitals in New York named after them... Obama's are all in Africa': Donald's lawyer hits back in clash over birth certificates
flamboyant billionaire Donald Trump was today forced to launch a frantic damage limitation campaign after a ploy to question President Barack Obama's place of birth backfired.
He joined the legion of Americans demanding Mr Obama prove he was born on U.S. soil by issuing his own birth certificate, only to have its authenticity questioned because it lacks an official seal.
Now Mr Trump's lawyer has defended the tycoon's New York origins - by pointing out there are hospitals named after his family in the city, but the only ones named after Mr Obama are in Africa.
Donald Trump
Barack Obama
Ruffled: Donald Trump, famed for his billions and bouffant hairdo, produced a birth certificate only for New York officials to say it wasn't an official one
Evidence: Mr Trump produced this certificate showing he was born on June 14, 1946
Evidence: Mr Trump produced this document showing he was born on June 14, 1946. But it is a hospital certificate of birth, rather than an official birth certificate
Michael Cohen said: 'I don't think anyone's going to question whether Donald Trump is or was not born in New York.'
And he said it was a 'little bit odd' there were hospitals named after Mr Obama in 'Ghana', but none in New York. The president's family is in fact from Kenya.
Foreign connection: Mr Trump with his Scottish mother Mary MacLeod
Foreign connection: Mr Trump with his Scottish mother Mary MacLeod
Mr Trump proudly issued his birth certificate yesterday, which states he was born at New York’s Jamaica Hospital on June 14, 1946 to parents Mr and Mrs Fred C. Trump.
The move came after he joined 'birthers' - the legion of Americans who say Mr Obama is not a U.S. citizen - in demanding the president produce his birth certificate.
The 65-year-old property tycoon and Apprentice host said: 'It took me one hour to get my birth certificate.It’s inconceivable that, after four years of questioning, the president still hasn’t produced his birth certificate.
‘I’m just asking President Obama to show the public his birth certificate. Why’s he making an issue out of this?
It has been claimed that Mr Obama was born on foreign soil - in Indonesia or even Kenya – and so should not have been able to run for President.
But Mr Trump was soon trumped when eagle-eyed New Yorkers noted something missing on the document and complained to current affairs blog Politico.
Officials from the New York City Department of Health, which issues birth certificates, told MailOnline an official one would have the agency's seal and also a signature of the city registrar - neither of which the Trump document has.
They said: 'The New York City Health Department is the sole issuing authority of official NYC birth certificates and it would state as such on the document.'
Politico reports 'city officials said it's not an official document.'
Point of contention: Barack Obama released this certification of live birth during his 2008 presidential campaign. But birthers claim it could have been issued even if he wasn't born in Hawaii
Point of contention: Barack Obama released this certification of live birth during his 2008 presidential campaign. But birthers claim it could have been issued even if he wasn't born in Hawaii
Instead of a birth certificate, it is a certificate of birth, a piece of paper the hospital gives to the family to say their child has been born.Those documents are usually signed by the hospital administrator and the attending doctor.
Politico notes that Trump's mother, Mary MacLeod, was born in Scotland.
Now his lawyer and adviser, Mr Cohen, has hit back on Mr Trump's behalf in an interview with CBS.
Mr Cohen, who is on vacation in Italy, told the channel it was obvious Mr Trump has released 'something that his parents had given him years and years ago and he obviously just had it put away.'
When asked whether Mr Trump needed to release his official birth certificate, Mr Cohen said he is 'not yet' the president.
But he said: 'If he is asked to produce a raised seal New York City Department of Health birth certificate, I'm pretty sure he can have one in as quick a period of time as you can go down and get it.'
Support: Some of Mr Trump's backers at New York's Saint Patrick's Day parade. However, he may face calls to prove he really was born on American soil before he can run
Support: Some of Mr Trump's backers at New York's Saint Patrick's Day parade. But he may face calls to prove he really was born in the U.S. before he can run
The channel also reports Mr Cohen insisted the tycoon is 'not part of this birther movement, he's just an individual that is questioning'.
He said: 'If you want to kill the comments, and you want to stop the chitter chatter about it, just show your birth certificate.'
The setback, which may have ruffled Mr Trumps famous bouffant-like hair, means that if he decides to run for president in this year's Republican primaries he could face the same scrutiny from Congress as Mr Obama.
In an interview with Fox News, Mr Trump said he didn't consider himself a birther - a group which believes Mr Obama was not born in the U.S. and is demanding to see his birth certificate. Instead he said he 'just wanted to know the truth'.
Proof? Barack Obama's parents announced his birth in this advert from the Honolulu Advertiser. Birthers have cast doubt on its authenticity
Proof? Barack Obama's parents announced his birth in this advert from the Honolulu Advertiser. Birthers have cast doubt on its authenticity
Place of birth: A document produced by Mr Trump says he was born at Jamaica Hospital in Queens, New York, on June 14, 1946
Place of birth: A document produced by Mr Trump says he was born at Jamaica Hospital in Queens, New York, on June 14, 1946
He told Greta Van Susteran: 'I want to see his birth certificate. He doesn't have it. He spent millions of dollars on lawyers trying to get out of the issue.
'They give what's called a certificate of live birth which doesn't even have a signature on it, and anybody can get a certificate of live birth. It's nothing to do with a birth certificate.'
The 'certificate of live birth' refers to a document produced by Mr Obama during his presidential campaign which shows the president's birth date, city and name, along with his parents' names and races.
The 'certification of live birth' was issued on August 8, 1961, four days after he was born.
But birthers claim it lacks authenticity because it isn't signed, and are demanding to see the longer, more detailed version called a 'certificate of birth'.
They allege anyone could receive a 'certificate of birth' even if they weren't born in the U.S.
Mr Trump also accused the Hawaii governor, Neil Abercrombie, of lying when he said he remembered Mr Obama being born.
He said: 'I'll bet he didn't even know the parents 50 years ago. What he's doing is taking a bullet for the party.'
And he dismissed two adverts taken out in two Honolulu newspapers in the days after Mr Obama's birth.
He said: 'Even if you look at the newspaper, the so-called newspaper article in Hawaii, that was days after he was born. Whoever took a newspaper advertisement to announce the birth of your baby?
SO JUST WHO ARE THE BIRTHERS?
The birthers are a group of right-wing campaigners who believe President Obama was not born in the United States and is therefore ineligible to be president.
Their argument centres around the part of the constitution which states 'no person except a natural born citizen... shall be eligible to the office of President.'
They claim any documents showing his birth are forgeries, or insufficient to prove he was born in America.
Some allege Mr Obama was born in Kenya, is a citizen of Indonesia and that his real middle name is' Muhammed'.
What do they claim?
The crux of their campaign is a certification of live birth produced by Mr Obama during the 2008 presidential campaign.
They say it is not sufficient proof of his U.S. citizenship, because it is not signed and does not include the hospital he was born in.
The movement also alleges Hawaiian law allows certifications of live birth to be issued to people born abroad.
They are demanding to see the long handwritten version, confusingly called a certificate of live birth.
Birthers also dismiss adverts printed in the Honolulu Advertiser and Honolulu Star-Bulletin in the days after Mr Obama was born.
Are they right?
The internet arguments are endless, but experts at the non-partisan Fact Check project examined Mr Obama's certification of live birth and said it had been signed and sealed on the back.
The full version of the certificate has not been released, but officials at the Hawaii Department of Health say they have seen it and confirm Mr Obama is a 'natural-born American citizen'.
Do they have political support?
Most Republicans have rejected the claims. But Republican senator James Inhofe has previously said he would not 'discourage' the movement, and a former Republican presidential candidate, Alan Keyes, filed a lawsuit questioning Mr Obama's eligibility.
They have also been defended in the past by figures including Lou Dobbs, Liz Cheney - and now Donald Trump.
'I know of nobody, and I know poor people and rich people, but I'd never heard of taking a newspaper ad to advertise you have a baby.'
The president has faced repeated demands that he produce a birth certificate - rather than the certification of live birth - from Republican politicians.
Among those claiming Mr Obama was not born in the U.S. are possible 2012 White House candidate Mike Huckabee.
A Washington Post-ABC News poll last year found 14 per cent of Americans say without prompting that they believe Mr Obama was born in another country.
Last month representatives from 10 U.S. states proposed a bill which prevents Mr Obama's eligibility to serve as president unless he 'proves' his citizenship.
Obama was born in Hawaii in 1961 to a mother from Kansas, and a father from Kenya whom he would barely know and write in his memoir he had met only once.
He spent the first five years of his life in Hawaii and then moved with his since-divorced mother and her new husband to Indonesia.
At the age of 10, he returned to Hawaii to live with his maternal grandparents on Oahu until he started his undergraduate degree in Los Angeles and completed it in New York City.
'The first time I came to Kenya was in 1987,' Obama said at the University of Nairobi in 2006.
'I had just finished three years of work as a community organiser in low-income neighbourhoods of Chicago, and was about to enrol in law school.
'My sister, Auma, was teaching that year at this university, and so I came to stay with her for a month.'
Last week Mr Trump infuriated Whoopi Goldberg in an interview on her show 'The View', when he repeated his demand for the president to produce his birth certificate.
She asked: 'why should he have to?' Mr Trump replied he believed Mr Obama did have one, but said he needed to produce it to clear the 'pall' hanging over him.
Ms Goldberg said 'it's not because he's black, is it?' Mr Trump said it had 'nothing to do with that'.
Mr Trump’s lawyer and advisor Michael Cohen didn't respond to questions about the document.
Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-1371105/Obama-birth-certificate-clash-Donald-Trumps-s-lawyer-hits-back.html#ixzz1I5zpy6LP
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