Donald Trump finally admits Obama was born in the U.S.

By Staff The Associated Press

Posted September 16, 2016 10:55 am EST

Updated September 16, 2016 8:27 pm EST

1 min read

This article is more than 8 years old and some information may not be up to date.

WATCH ABOVE: Donald Trump now says he believes President Obama was born in the U.S., reversing his longstanding claim that Obama was not American. As Jackson Proskow reports Trump created a new conspiracy theory in his attempt to downplay the one he pushed for years. – Sep 16, 2016

WASHINGTON – Donald Trump has finally acknowledged the fact that President Barack Obama was born in the United States.

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Trump said Friday that “President Barack Obama was born in the United States, period.”

As he did so, the Republican nominee repeated the conspiracy theory that Hillary Clinton’s 2008 campaign for president started the so-called the “birther controversy.”

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There is no evidence that is true, and Clinton and her allies have strongly denied that suggestion.

Trump says of the “birther” movement: “I finished it. You know what I mean.”

The Republican nominee has for years been the most prominent “birther,” the name given to those who propagated the falsehood that Obama was born outside of the country.