AP Photo CNN contributor Corey Lewandowski: Was Obama a citizen when he went to Harvard?

During an animated discussion about his former boss Tuesday night on CNN, former Donald Trump campaign manager Corey Lewandowski suggested that President Barack Obama might be concealing his true birthplace by withholding his transcripts from his time at Harvard University.

The discussion began when Angela Rye, a former executive director of the Congressional Black Caucus, responded on "CNN Tonight with Don Lemon" to Lewandowski's criticism of President Barack Obama calling Trump "unfit" for office earlier in the day by remarking upon the Republican nominee's history with the so-called birther movement.


“Did he ever release his transcripts from Harvard?” Lewandowski asked, after Rye referenced Trump's past remark that Obama got into Harvard as a result of affirmative action.

Rye hit back, referring to Trump's refusal to release his tax returns.

“You raised the issue. I’m just asking," Lewandowski said. "You raised the issue. Did he, did he ever release his transcripts or his admission to Harvard University. You raised the issue, so just yes or no? The answer is no.”

“In this moment, I’m going to Beyoncé you. Boy, bye," Rye responded. "You’re so out of line right now. Tell your candidate to release his tax returns.”

“Don’t raise the issue if you don’t want to address it," Lewandowski said. "That’s what happens.”

Rye shot back, “Two words: Tax. Returns."

“Harvard University. Transcripts," Lewandowski retorted. "You raised the issue. Did he ever release them—“

Rye then referred to the fact that Obama was the first black editor of Harvard Law Review, as Lemon tried to steer the conversation by asking Lewandowski why it was germane to bring up Obama's Harvard transcripts.

“Look, the only reason it’s germane is because she brought the issue up and said Donald Trump raised the issue of his Harvard transcripts," Lewandowski, a paid CNN contributor, said. "And I just simply said … have those ever been released, and the question was did he get in as a U.S. citizen or was he brought into Harvard University as a citizen who wasn’t from this country?”

The White House released Obama's long-form birth certificate in 2011 showing that he was indeed born in Hawaii after Trump stoked the prospect of the president being born elsewhere.

Off-screen, Rye exclaimed, “Oh, my God."

“Whoa. No, no, no, no, no. Don? Don?” panelist Bakari Sellers said.

Sellers called Lewandowski's suggestion "blatantly disrespectful," adding, "You think he’s Kenyan. You think he’s not from here.”

“I didn’t say that," Lewandowski said.

“You just said that, you said that you think he’s not from this country," Sellers responded.

Rye interjected, “So where’s he from, Corey? If he’s not from the United States, where’s he from?"

"Hawaii isn’t a country!" she said with a laugh.

"You're the one who's raised the issue of his race," Lewandowski said. "So if that's the issue you're still dealing with, that's your problem, not mine."

CNN chief Jeff Zucker defended hiring Lewandowski in an interview published Tuesday, before the panel aired.

"The reason we hired Corey is that now that we are in the general election, I think it’s really important to have voices on CNN who are supportive of the Republican nominee,” he said. “It’s hard to find a lot of those. Our competitors tried to hire him too.”

"I actually think he’s done a really nice job,” Zucker added. “He’s come under a much greater spotlight because of who he is, and the relationship he’s had with the media. As a result, people are going to be more critical.”