This morning on NBC’s Meet the Press, House Majority Leader Eric Cantor (R-VA) repeatedly refused host David Gregory’s invitation to call questions about President Obama’s citizenship illegitimate, and he also declined to call such rhetoric “crazy,” saying “I don’t think it’s nice to call anyone crazy, ok?” After several prompts from Gregory, Cantor eventually said he believes the president “is a citizen of the United States”:

GREGORY: This is a leadership moment here. There are elements of this country who question the president’s citizenship, who think that his birth certificate is inauthentic. Will you call that what it is, which is crazy talk?

CANTOR: [laughs] David, you know, a lot of that has been an issue sort of generated by not only the media but others in the country. Most Americans really are beyond that and they want us to focus —

GREGORY: Is somebody who brings that up engaging in crazy talk?

CANTOR: David I don’t think it’s nice to call anyone crazy, OK?

GREGORY: Alright. Is it a legitimate or illegitimate issue?

CANTOR: I don’t think it’s an issue that we need to address at all. I think we need to focus on trying –

GREGORY: His citizenship should never be questioned in your judgment, is that what you’re saying?

CANTOR: It’s not an issue that even needs to be on the policymaking table right now.

GREGORY: Because it’s illegitimate? Why won’t you just call it what it is? Because I feel like there are a lot of Republican leaders who don’t want to go as far as to criticize those who –

CANTOR: I think the president is a citizen of the United States.