UPI en Español  |   UPI Asia  |   About UPI  |   My Account
Search:
Go

Rove, Palin call 'birthers' a distraction

|
 
White House Deputy Chief of Staff Karl Rove speaks after U.S. President George W. Bush announced Rove will leave his post at the end of August on the South Lawn of the White House on August 13, 2007. Rove is widely credited with being the architect of Bush's Presidential election victories. (UPI Photo/Roger L. Wollenberg)
White House Deputy Chief of Staff Karl Rove speaks after U.S. President George W. Bush announced Rove will leave his post at the end of August on the South Lawn of the White House on August 13, 2007. Rove is widely credited with being the architect of Bush's Presidential election victories. (UPI Photo/Roger L. Wollenberg) 
License photo
Published: Feb. 18, 2011 at 3:15 PM

WASHINGTON, Feb. 18 (UPI) -- Sarah Palin and former Bush adviser Karl Rove suggested this week Republicans should admit President Obama was born in the United States and move on.

Rove, speaking Wednesday on Fox News, went so far as to suggest the Obama camp is trying to keep the "birther" issue going as a distraction.

"We need the leaders of our party to say, 'Look, stop falling into the trap of the White House and focus on the real issues,'" he said.

Palin, speaking in New York, called claims Obama was born in Kenya or is a secret Muslim "distractions" and "annoying." The former Alaska governor said Thursday Republicans need to focus on the economy.

A poll of 400 likely Republican primary voters showed 51 percent believe Obama was not born in the United States. Rep. Jeff Flake, R-Ariz., told CNN he is not convinced the poll is an accurate reflection of Republican beliefs, saying most people "accept the reality" that Obama was born in Hawaii.

At least two high-profile Republicans refused to back away from the so-called birthers. Rep. Michele Bachmann of Minnesota and House Speaker John Boehner of Ohio said they accept Obama's birth certificate but would not say those who believe otherwise are wrong.

"Well, that's not for me to state, that's for the president to state," Bachmann said when asked on ABC her if Obama is a U.S.-born Christian.

Topics: Karl Rove
Recommended Stories
© 2011 United Press International, Inc. All Rights Reserved. Any reproduction, republication, redistribution and/or modification of any UPI content is expressly prohibited without UPI's prior written consent.

Order reprints
Join the conversation
Most Popular Collections
'Star Trek Into Darkness' screening NBC upfronts Met Ball 2013
'Great Gatsby' premieres in New York Spire raised on top of One WTC 2013: Celebrity break ups and divorces
Additional U.S. News Stories
1 of 16
Tornadoes Devastate Moore, Oklahoma
View Caption
A damaged movie theater is seen in aftermath of a series of tornadoes in Moore, Oklahoma, May 21, 2013. On May 20 a series of tornadoes swept through severals towns south of Oklahoma City leaving a path of destruction and killing at least 24 people. UPI/J.P. Wilson
fark
News: 31-year-old woman spends £20,000 on clothes for her 8-year-old son. Fark: She's hot (w/pics)...
Obligatory before and after images of Moore, OK
Sami Bouzaglo, co-owner of Amy's Baking Company, faces deportation after it's learned he has convictions...
If you're going to rob a bank, it's probably best to wear a disguise, not a floor-length, green...
One of the last three surviving Jewish fighters from the Warsaw ghetto uprising of 1943 has died...
Senator who voted against disaster aid for Sandy: now is not the time to discuss my position on...