Donald Trump trumped as senior Republicans acknowledge the obvious

Published on Wednesday 27 April 2011 16:55

Donald Trump's public questioning of Obama's place of birth as he considers a Republican presidential run gathered little support from senior party figures.

The House's top Republicans - Speaker John Boehner and Majority Leader Eric Cantor - have said they are satisfied that Mr Obama was born in Hawaii.

Other possible candidates for the presidential race, such as former Massachusetts governor Mitt Romney and former senator Rick Santorum of Pennsylvania have been the most direct in rejecting the birthers' claims. "I believe the president was born in the United States," Mr Romney told CNBC. Mr Santorum has no doubt the president was born in Hawaii, and "believes this debate distracts us from the real issues."

Another hopeful, former Minnesota governor Tim Pawlenty, told an Iowa audience, "I'm not one to question the authenticity of Barack Obama's birth certificate." He added a little jibe: "When you look at his policies, I do question what planet he's from."

Former vice presidential nominee Sarah Palin gave mixed signals in a recent Fox News appearance. She praised Mr Trump for "paying for researchers" to dig into claims of the president's foreign birth. But she added, "I think that he was born in Hawaii because there was a birth announcement put in the newspaper."

Former Arkansas governor Mike Huckabee has dismissed claims that Mr Obama is foreign-born. But on a radio show in February he referred to Mr Obama as "having grown up in Kenya," the birthplace of the president's father.