Prominent people close to Donald Trump have said in recent days that he believes President Barack Obama was born in the United States, reversing his fervent promotion of the birther movement in 2011.
“Donald Trump believes now that (Obama) was born in the United States,” former New York Mayor Rudy Giuliani said Thursday on MSNBC. “I believe it. He believes it. We all believe it. It took a long time to get out.” The same day, Trump’s vice presidential nominee Mike Pence said, “I believe Barack Obama was born in Hawaii, I accept his birthplace.”
Friday morning, Trump’s campaign manager Kellyanne Conway echoed Giuliani, saying on CNN, “He believes President Obama was born here… The point is what kind of President has he been… He has not been a particularly successful President, that is what this campaign is about.”
Trump himself, however, has not given a straight answer on the issue. Asked about it by reporters earlier this week, Trump said, “I don’t talk about it because if I talk about that, your whole thing will be about that.”
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Write to Tessa Berenson at tessa.Rogers@time.com