--- title: Michelle Obama Slams Donald Trump's Flip Flop on Birtherism description: She said it "cannot be blamed on others or swept under the rug by an insincere sentence uttered at a press conference." canonical: https://time.com/4511800/michelle-obama-donald-trump-birtherism/ author: Maya Rhodan article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2016-09-28T17:21:18.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-08-19T07:45:33.664Z article:section: Politics og:title: Michelle Obama Slams Trump's Flip on Birtherism og:description: 'It cannot be swept under the rug by an insincere sentence at a press conference.' og:url: https://time.com/4511800/michelle-obama-donald-trump-birtherism/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltb11e432c50cb2a2a/6988a7f1cd1bba287b70281f/gettyimages-610921890.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 5760 og:image:height: 3240 og:image:alt: Michelle Obama Campaigns For Hillary Clinton In Philadelphia og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: Michelle Obama Slams Trump's Flip on Birtherism twitter:description: 'It cannot be swept under the rug by an insincere sentence at a press conference.' twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltb11e432c50cb2a2a/6988a7f1cd1bba287b70281f/gettyimages-610921890.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # Michelle Obama Slams Donald Trump's Flip on Birtherism > Sponsored content. 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Brief is TIME's Washington newsletter, written by senior correspondent Philip Elliott. It explains the politics, personalities and power dynamics behind the headlines, three times a week. It reaches 85,000 subscribers with a 37.0% open rate as of August 2026. #### Where can I get analysis of Washington politics by email? D.C. Brief is TIME's free Washington politics newsletter, available at time.com/newsletters. It is written by a TIME senior correspondent who covers the capital full time. #### Who writes TIME's D.C. Brief? Philip Elliott, a senior correspondent at TIME, writes D.C. Brief. #### Is D.C. Brief free? Yes. D.C. Brief is free at time.com/newsletters. by [Maya Rhodan](https://time.com/author/maya-rhodan/) ## Maya Rhodan Sep 28, 2016 5:21 PM UTC  US first lady Michelle Obama campaigns for Democratic presidential nominee Hillary Clinton at Lasalle University on September 28, 2016 in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. Jessica Kourkounis—Getty Images US first lady Michelle Obama campaigns for Democratic presidential nominee Hillary Clinton at Lasalle University on September 28, 2016 in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. Jessica Kourkounis—Getty ImagesJessica Kourkounis—Getty Images by [Maya Rhodan](https://time.com/author/maya-rhodan/) ## Maya Rhodan Sep 28, 2016 5:21 PM UTC Michelle Obama did not buy [Donald Trump’s declaration](http://time.com/4496913/donald-trump-barack-obama-birther/)—after years of denials and questions—that he believes her husband [President Obama was born in the United States](http://time.com/4496913/donald-trump-barack-obama-birther/). The First Lady called out Trump’s statement during a rally for Hillary Clinton in Philadelphia on Wednesday, saying it was insincere, among the “hurtful \[and\] deceitful” questions raised during their time in the White House that she feels were deliberately designed to undermine the presidency of her husband. Those questions “cannot be blamed on others or swept under the rug by an insincere sentence uttered at a press conference,” she said in a speech at La Salle University. Obama also implored the audience not to vote for third-party candidates Gary Johnson and Jill Stein, arguing that casting “[protest votes](http://www.vanityfair.com/news/2016/09/hillary-clinton-millennial-voters)” would all but ensure a Trump win. A recent [Quinnipiac University poll ](https://www.qu.edu/news-and-events/quinnipiac-university-poll/national/release-detail?ReleaseID=2378)found that 29% of voters 18-34 would have voted for Gary Johnson and 15% would have voted for Jill Stein if the election were held that day. Thirty -one percent of those voters would have voted for Clinton and 26% would have voted for Trump. Obama slammed the idea of there being a “perfect candidate” in the 2016 election, saying no such person exists in any race. This one, she said, features two “very different candidates” who will have an impact on the future of the country. “You could also help swing an entire precinct for Hillary’s opponent with a protest vote or by staying home out of frustration,” she said. “If you vote for someone other than Hillary or you don’t vote at all then you are helping to elect Hillary’s opponent.” ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/4511800/michelle-obama-donald-trump-birtherism/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/4511800/michelle-obama-donald-trump-birtherism/"},"headline":"Michelle Obama Slams Donald Trump's Flip on Birtherism","datePublished":"2016-09-28T17:21:18.000Z","dateModified":"2026-08-19T07:45:33.664Z","description":"It cannot be 'swept under the rug by an insincere sentence uttered at a press conference'","url":"https://time.com/4511800/michelle-obama-donald-trump-birtherism/","keywords":["Hillary Clinton","2016 Election","Michelle Obama","Donald Trump"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltb11e432c50cb2a2a/6988a7f1cd1bba287b70281f/gettyimages-610921890.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Maya Rhodan","jobTitle":null,"url":"https://time.com/author/maya-rhodan/"}],"articleSection":"Politics","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltb11e432c50cb2a2a/6988a7f1cd1bba287b70281f/gettyimages-610921890.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"Michelle Obama Campaigns For Hillary Clinton In Philadelphia","caption":"Michelle Obama Campaigns For Hillary Clinton In Philadelphia","creditText":"Jessica Kourkounis—Getty Images","representativeOfPage":true}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/section/politics/","name":"Politics"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/4511800/michelle-obama-donald-trump-birtherism/","name":"Michelle Obama Slams Donald Trump's Flip on Birtherism"}}]}] ```