FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

News from Progress Michigan

Tuesday, February 26, 2013

Contact: Jessica Tramontana, jessica@progressmichigan.org, 517-974-6302

“Don’t know,” Casperson tells Lansing radio host in response to question about Obama’s birthplace

LANSING – Today Progress Michigan strongly condemned Sen. Tom Casperson and called on him to apologize for comments on Michael Patrick Shiels’ show that he didn’t know whether President Barack Obama was born in the United States.

“Questioning the President’s birthplace is like believing in Bigfoot or the Loch Ness Monster,” said Zack Pohl, Executive Director of Progress Michigan. “Sen. Casperson should immediately apologize and acknowledge that Obama was born in the United States. We need elected leaders who are focused on creating jobs and improving education – not wild Tea Party conspiracy theories.”

After being asked by Michael Patrick Shiels if he believed the President was born in the United States, Sen. Casperson responded simply: “don’t know.” He went on to complain that the major media had dropped the issue “immediately,” and called the lack of scrutiny “strange.”

In response to claims from numerous conspiracy theorists, the White House released President Obama’s long-form birth certificate on April 27, 2011. A copy can be found on the White House website.

Sen. Casperson is the first elected official to question Obama’s birthplace since the president was reelected in November 2012.

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