Trump Fuels Birther Fire - PolitiFact Rebuts

Wikipedia:  PolitiFact.com is a project that is operated by the St. Petersburg Times, a project in which its reporters and editors "fact-check statements by members of Congress, the White House, lobbyists and interest groups. PolitiFact.com was awarded the Pulitzer Prize for National Reporting in 2009 for "its fact-checking initiative during the 2008 presidential campaign that used probing reporters and the power of the World Wide Web to examine more than 750 political claims, separating rhetoric from truth to enlighten voters."

PolitiFact's guide to Obama's birth certificate

By Bill Adair
Published on Friday, April 8th, 2011 at 3:56 p.m.

Hawaii officials have verified the authenticity of this Certification of Live Birth.

Nothing we've published in the four-year history of PolitiFact has generated as much interest as our coverage of President Barack Obama's birth certificate.

New allegations from Donald Trump (new from Trump, at least; most of them have been explored by PolitiFact and other fact-checkers) have prompted fresh interest in the subject, so we thought we'd provide a handy guide to our coverage.

The main stories
Obama's birth certificate: the final chapter was our first major examination of the issue, focusing on how questions about Obama's birth were spreading. It was part of the entry that won the Pulitzer Prize for National Reporting in 2009.

Obama's birth certificate: the final chapter -- This time we mean it! explored additional angles of the story and included an explanation from Hawaiian officials and confirmation that the birth certificate posted by the Obama campaign was legitimate.

Truth-O-Meter items
We've published 18 Truth-O-Meter items on various claims about the birth certificate and collected them on this page. It's worth noting that we've found most of the claims to be False or Pants on Fire. Some of the significant ones:

Donald Trump earned a False for his claim that Obama's grandmother said he was born in Kenya.

Donald Trump earned a Pants on Fire for his claim that classmates did not remember Obama.

A Texas state legislator earned a False for saying Hawaii's governor can't find anything that says Obama was born there.

A chain e-mail earned a Pants on Fire for a claim that Obama's college transcript indicates he was an Indonesian citizen.

A chain e-mail earned a Pants on Fire for saying that Obama's middle name is Muhammed.

A chain e-mail earned a Pants on Fire for saying that Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia had agreed to hear a case about whether Obama is eligible to be president.

Related rulings:

Says President Obama's "grandmother in Kenya said he was born in Kenya and she was there and witnessed the birth."

Donald Trump, Thursday, April 7th, 2011.
Ruling: False | Details

Says the Hawaii governor "can’t find anything that says (President Barack Obama) was born in Hawaii."

Leo Berman, Monday, February 14th, 2011.
Ruling: False | Details

"The people that went to school with (Barack Obama), they never saw him, they don't know who he is."

Donald Trump, Thursday, February 10th, 2011.
Ruling: Pants on Fire! | Details

Justice Antonin Scalia agreed for the Supreme Court to hear a case about whether Barack Obama is eligible to be President.

Chain e-mail, Monday, June 28th, 2010.
Ruling: Pants on Fire! | Details

White House spokesman Robert Gibbs "lied" when he said President Obama's birth certificate is posted on the Internet.

WorldNetDaily, Wednesday, June 17th, 2009.
Ruling: False | Details

"His true name is Barak Hussein Muhammed Obama."

Chain e-mail, Friday, April 18th, 2008.
Ruling: Pants on Fire! | Details