After years of fueling conspiracy theories, Republican White House nominee Donald Trump admitted Friday that President Barack Obama is an American as he tried to neutralize damaging charges of racism.
But he also stepped up attacks against his Democratic rival Hillary Clinton, accusing her of initiating the doubts about Obama and later raising the specter of violence against her again.
In a much-hyped televised event, Trump gave a lengthy plug for his new Washington hotel before acknowledging that “President Barack Obama was born in the United States, period.”
The mogul-turned-politico pointedly did not apologize, nor did he walk back similarly baseless claims that Obama–whose father was a Kenyan Muslim–founded the violent Islamic State group.
