After dining last month with Donald Trump, Texas Gov. Rick Perry isn’t sure that President Obama’s birth certificate is real.

The GOP presidential candidate was asked by Parade magazine whether he believed that Obama was born in the United States.

“I have no reason to think otherwise,” he said.

Pressed for a “definitive” answer, Perry continued: “Well, I don’t have a definitive answer, because he’s never seen my birth certificate.”


“But you’ve seen his,” the interviewer replied.

“I don’t know. Have I?” Perry said.

Obama released a certificate of live birth during his 2008 campaign, but that didn’t satisfy some people, who questioned whether it was real. The White House released the long-form version of his Hawaii birth certificate earlier this year, but some in the “birther” movement, including Trump, still aren’t convinced.

“I don’t know,” Perry said when asked if he believed the birth certificate was real. “I had dinner with Donald Trump the other night. ... He doesn’t think it’s real. ... I don’t have any idea. It doesn’t matter. [Obama is] the President of the United States. He’s elected. It’s a distractive issue.”


kim.geiger@latimes.com