Obama’s citizenship is not up for debate

Donald Trump, a dentist from Orange County, Calif., and 48 percent of Republicans from Iowa all have one thing in common — they all believe President Barack Obama was not born in the US.

They make up a small part of the so-called birther movement, a group that believes Obama was not born in America, and therefore is illegally holding the presidency.

There’s only one small problem. Obama was born in Honolulu, Hawaii, on Aug. 4, 1961 — a fact that has been continuously proven time and time again. So why is there still a heated debate on the issue?

It’s not because Obama hasn’t released his birth records. His campaign released a certification of live birth to the public — and that is as official as Hawaii gets. There is a document called a long-form birth record that is confidential, but it is never released to the public, even if the person requesting the document is the president.

However, numerous people have inspected the document and have spoken to its authenticity — including former Hawaii health director Dr. Chiyome Fukino and former Republican Gov. Linda Lingle.

Independently-operated FactCheck.org has also personally inspected the president’s long-form birth record, and they verify its legitimacy as well.

In addition to the long list of verification from Tea Party supporters and Democrats alike, Obama’s birth was announced in two Hawaii newspapers — The Honolulu Advertiser and The Honolulu Star-Bulletin — the week after he was born.

“Of course, it’s distantly possible that Obama’s grandparents may have planted the announcement just in case their grandson needed to prove his U.S. citizenship in order to run for president someday,” FactCheck.org states in their article backing Obama’s citizenship.

“We suggest that those who choose to go down that path should first equip themselves with a high-quality tinfoil hat. The evidence is clear: Barack Obama was born in the U.S.A.”

We couldn’t agree more.