But even as surrogates for Donald Trump say the candidate now believes that Barack Obama was born in America, the candidate himself has yet to be heard from.
The closest he has come has been to say, "I don't talk about that anymore."
Nonetheless, pundits and Trump supporters continue to use the phrase "born in America" and base their arguments on the idea that the Constitution requires that a candidate for President be born in the U.S.
It doesn't. The Constitution specifies that a candidate be a "natural born citizen." It does not say, "native born." There's a difference.
If at least one parent is an American citizen, then it doesn't matter where the child is born. The child acquires U.S. citizenship at birth.
Ted Cruz was born in Canada, but his mother was American, so he is a natural born citizen, and therefore was qualified to run for President. John McCain was born in Panama (in the Canal Zone, where his father, a Navy officer, was stationed). George Romney, father of Mitt Romney, and also a former presidential candidate, was born in Mexico, while his parents were Mormon missionaries. And Barry Goldwater was born in Arizona before it achieved statehood, so it could be argued that he was not born in the United States.
All challenges to those candidates would be wrong, since they were all natural born citizens.
As for Barack Obama, his mother was from Kansas, so it does not matter where young Barack was born. He is a "natural born citizen" through his mother. Moreover, he was in fact born in Hawaii, and he has presented his birth certificate to prove it. In addition, he would have had to show his birth certificate to get a driver's license, or to register to vote, and likely various other things common to anyone living in America.
Many thousands of other American children are born in other countries, many to military personnel or those living and working overseas, and become U.S. citizens through their parents.
But none of that reality satisfies political opponents. Trump has claimed that Obama's birth certificate was a forgery, and that he sent investigators to Hawaii, insisting that "You wouldn't believe what they came up with."
Believe it or not, whatever it was that the investigators "came up with" has never been revealed.
But the candidate refuses to admit he was wrong, as he does with so many things. Now, he merely says, "I don't talk about that anymore."
Nor does he acknowledge any errors or wrongdoing -- legally or morally -- in any other activity or comment of his that independent investigators and news media have detailed, often using court documents or even using recordings of things the candidate has said in the past, directly contradicting what he now may say.
Instead, the candidate increases his attacks on any who disagree with him in any way, without providing any evidence to support even the most obviously or blatantly false things he says.
Even now he refuses to admit that he was wrong in his assertion that Barack Obama was not born in America and therefore ineligible to be President. Perhaps he sees no benefit in continuing to talk about it, since Obama's Presidency will expire in four months.
Or maybe it's time to demand to see Trump's birth certificate, proving that he is eligible to run for the office of President. If, as Trump maintains, a candidate must be born in the U.S. in order to seek the Presidency, how do voters know that Trump speaks true when he says he is? After all, he has uttered many untruths in the past.
However, since he so far has refused to release his tax returns, even though his running mate Mike Pence has, Trump is not likely to release his birth certificate, relying on his perennial demand that the American public must believe everything he says just because he says it.
Moreover, Trump's lawyers now say they see "no upside" to releasing the candidate's tax returns. True enough. Equally, if there be no upside, that increases the likelihood of a severe downside, given what is known about his business practices, the many bankruptcies of firms he has operated, his alleged charity donations that have failed to materialize, and inconsistencies about his income claims.
Trump's personal assurances are not good enough. Voters want evidence.
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