Politics

Limbaugh credits Trump and polling for timing of long-form birth certificate release

Jeff Poor Media Reporter
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With everything going on in the world, some are questioning why President Barack Obama picked today to release his long-form birth certificate in a surprise announcement. According to Rush Limbaugh, the timing is based on polling.

During the opening of his Wednesday show, Limbaugh said the negatives were outpacing the positives on the birther issue for the White House.

“If it takes a reality to star to force Obama’s hand on his birth certificate, and everybody’s asking, ‘Why now?’” Limbaugh said. “I think I’ve got the answer. I think it’s all about the polling data. I think up until now the polling data showed it was a winning issue for Obama. Birthers were considered crackpots. The polling data show as long as they continue that way, there was hay to be made, by Obama by not releasing the birth certificate and stoking these people, then [Donald] Trump comes along and I really believe that the polling data, the internal polling data at the White House runs shows that the issue was starting to take place.”

Limbaugh said it took someone like Donald Trump to push the issue after nearly three years have passed.

“So it probably went from a net positive to something that was starting to show a major problem – credibility, dishonesty, what have you,” Limbaugh surmised. “Now if that’s correct and since it’s my opinion it probably is, so I always say don’t doubt me, then what it really shows, and this is going to irritate a lot of people —  what it shows is Trump’s ability to connect with average voters in a way that – well nobody else had been able to connect on this, nobody else has been able to force Obama to do this. How long has it been going on? Two and a half years, even longer than that. All of a sudden here comes Trump and yet, lo and behold here comes the long-form birth certificate.”

Although many conservative commentators don’t have a favorable view of Trump, Limbaugh gave his press conference performance on Wednesday high marks, compared to Obama’s announcement.

“[I]n the context of politics being a reality show, Trump was hilarious this morning, absolutely hilarious,” Limbaugh continued. “And Obama was scheduled to show up at 9:45 – Trump kept going. He delayed Obama’s showing up and just in terms of theatrics and I know the purist don’t even want to hear it discussed this way – but in terms of theatrics, there was no comparison in terms of energy, the confidence of the two combatants in the competing press conferences. Obama’s presser was basically a snore-fest and Trump’s was alive and filled with vigor and a lot of energy.”

That, according to the conservative talk show host, is a demonstration of the power of Trump.

“Trump does not eat crow, he eats other people’s lunches,” he added. “He does not eat crow. You could tell – the networks did not want to leave the Trump presser.”

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