Politics

Donald Trump casts Obama as an impostor on the Laura Ingraham Show

Daniel Keylin Contributor
Font Size:

Donald Trump appeared on the Laura Ingraham Show Wednesday morning, discussing the controversy he has generated in recent days over his comments regarding President Barack Obama’s birth certificate.

The billionaire also suggested that Bill Ayers, not Obama, was the real author of the 1995 memoir “Dreams from My Father.”

Trump cited a noticeable difference in the writing quality between “Dreams from My Father” and Obama’s 2006 policy-centered book,”The Audacity of Hope,” which Trump said “was written by a guy that’s like a sophomore in high school.”

“They say ‘Dreams of My Father’ was genius and they give him full credit, and now it’s coming out that Bill Ayers wrote it…that’s what started him on this road where he became president,” Trump said.

Allegations  that Ayers ghostwrote the book have existed for years, and proponents of the theory were undoubtedly encouraged by a recently released video of Ayers giving a speech on March 24, in which he claims to be the real author. However, the former Weather Underground member appeared to be joking.

“If you can help me prove it, I’ll split the royalties,” Ayers said smiling, earning laughter and applause from the crowd.

Last week, The DC’s Jonathan Strong reported that Republican strategist Roger Stone and pollster John McLaughlin believe Trump’s recent “birther” claims are part of a concerted strategy to woo conservatives in the lead-up to a possible 2012 presidential run.

Stone told Politico in February that he had spoken to Trump several times and was told he was seriously considering a presidential run.

On Wednesday, Politico reported that Trump is currently in talks with veteran GOP pollster Tony Fabrizio, just as other potential candidates are in the midst of hiring staffers and strategists.

Trump certainly didn’t give any indication he was backing off the “birther” strategy on Wednesday.

“I don’t know why he can’t get a birth certificate,” Trump told Ingraham, declaring himself to be a proud “birther.”

He also cast suspicion over the authenticity of a 1961 newspaper ad Obama’s family placed in the Honolulu Advertiser that announced his birth, telling Ingraham, “an ad like that could have been staged. I don’t mean staged at the time, I mean it could have been computer-generated five years ago, eight years ago, two years ago.”

Trump suggested that ads announcing births are rare, noting that, “the Rockefeller family doesn’t buy ads in a newspaper, now you’re going to have two poor people putting an ad in a newspaper that their son was born? There’s something fishy about the whole thing.”