--- title: Barack Obama on Birth Certificate Rumors: 'That Was Some Crazy Stuff' description: In New York City for a convention on voting rights, President Barack Obama took a moment to recall the birther rumors. canonical: https://time.com/60092/barack-obama-birth-certificate-controversy-laugh/ author: Noah Rayman article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2014-04-11T21:51:17.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-10-01T08:52:34.107Z article:section: Politics og:title: Barack Obama on Birth Certificate Rumors: 'That Was Some Crazy Stuff' og:description: In New York City for a convention on voting rights, President Barack Obama took a moment to recall the birther rumors. og:url: https://time.com/60092/barack-obama-birth-certificate-controversy-laugh/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt39a384a13beae99f/69868a55e53aba379a4d2012/55085f6d48ed45fdadc079311e47f454-0.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 1375 og:image:height: 773 og:image:alt: Barack Obama og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: Barack Obama on Birth Certificate Rumors: 'That Was Some Crazy Stuff' twitter:description: In New York City for a convention on voting rights, President Barack Obama took a moment to recall the birther rumors. twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt39a384a13beae99f/69868a55e53aba379a4d2012/55085f6d48ed45fdadc079311e47f454-0.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # Obama Jokes About Birther Controversy: 'That Was Some Crazy Stuff' > Sponsored content. 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Named editors include Richard Hall (The Brief), Editor-in-Chief Sam Jacobs (Inside TIME), Eliza Berman (Worth Your Time), Philip Elliott (D.C. Brief), Justin Worland (Future Proof) and Harry Booth (In the Loop). Health Matters is written by TIME's health desk. #### How do I sign up for a TIME newsletter? Go to time.com/newsletters, choose the newsletters you want and enter your email address. There is no cost and no subscription requirement. ### Sources * TIME Newsletters: [time.com/newsletters](/c/time-nl-network-2026q3/newsletters?i=0156cf00-5b60-4ab8-a962-12216881e898&cr=time-nl-network-2026q3-v1) ## Video: Obama Jokes About Birth Certificate [Watch (HLS stream): Obama Jokes About Birth Certificate](https://cdn.jwplayer.com/manifests/MgvmrSuX.m3u8) (0:44)  _Published 2014-04-11. Prsident Obama talks at the New York National Action Network Convention_  by [Noah Rayman](https://time.com/author/noah-rayman/)  ## Noah Rayman Apr 11, 2014 9:51 PM UTC  by [Noah Rayman](https://time.com/author/noah-rayman/)  ## Noah Rayman Apr 11, 2014 9:51 PM UTC In New York City for a [convention on voting rights](http://www.nbcnewyork.com/news/local/President-Obama-Civil-Rights-Al-Sharpton-National-Action-Network-254924851.html), President Barack Obama took a moment to recall the birther rumors. “Just to be clear, I know where my birth certificate is, but a lot of people don’t,” he said as the crowd laughed at the 16th annual convention of the [National Action Network](http://nationalactionnetwork.net/convention-2014/) founded by Rev. Al Sharpton. “It think it’s still up on a website somewhere.” “You remember that? That was crazy. That was some crazy stuff. I haven’t thought about that in a while,” he said with a chuckle as the audience clapped and laughed along with him. _— with reporting from Zeke J Miller_ ## Transcript And just to be clear, I know where my birth certificate is, but a lot of people don't. [ LAUGH ] [ NOISE ] A lot of people don't. [ NOISE ] [ LAUGH ] I think it's still up on a website somewhere. [ LAUGH ] You remember that? That was crazy. [ LAUGH ] [ NOISE ] That was some crazy stuff. [ NOISE ] [ LAUGH ] I hadn't thought about that in a while. [ LAUGH ]. 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