When Donald Trump, after years of fueling the racist birther conspiracy theory, finally said today that President Obama was “born in the United States, period,” we wondered how Trump’s former allies in the birther movement would react.

It turns out that one leading birther is just refusing to talk about it, in an apparent effort to protect Trump from further criticism on the subject.

Jerome Corsi, the WorldNetDaily “reporter” who collaborated with Trump on his birther campaign and wrote two books on the subject, called in today to conservative radio host Rusty Humphries’ program but shut down when Humphries asked him about Trump’s latest comments.

“Rusty, you know, I really don’t even want to get into it anymore,” Corsi said, “and Donald Trump, he didn’t need my help to say what he wants to say, so let Donald on his own. I mean, I support Donald Trump, I’ve been writing about it and I’m much more interested in pursuing my book, ‘Partners in Crime,’ let Donald say whatever he wants to say. I’m not weighing in.”

Corsi was willing to comment, however, on Trump’s new false claim that it was actually Hillary Clinton who started the birther movement.

“Oh, we all know that,” Corsi said. “I mean, Hillary was the first birther. But, Randy [sic], I’m not getting into it, I’m done with the topic until Obama’s out of office, and we’ll find out eventually.”

Reporters who want to talk to him about “the birther,” he said, “can all go to you-know-where.”

“Right now, the left is trying to politicize the issue again,” he claimed. “If the left thinks they can hurt Donald Trump, they all want to talk about the birther. When it was an issue that could have hurt Obama, they all wanted to trash birthers.”