Sean Hannity: 'Where's the birth certificate?'

Sean Hannity

WASHINGTON – Sean Hannity today defended Sarah Palin's recent comments about Barack Obama's constitutional eligibility for the presidency and WND's pursuit of the story.

He said the question about his original, long-form birth certificate has still not been answered.

"What was so wrong in saying that, 'Can we see your birth certificate?' ... We were told early on that, in fact, somebody else had looked at it and confirmed that it was legitimate. So, I mean, what was wrong with people saying, 'Wait a minute. You know what? In light of the fact of where your, your father came from, et cetera, uh, let's just make sure that this is a legitimate birth certificate'? ... It was not asked by the mainstream media. It was asked by places like WorldNetDaily, who, I think, were just doing due diligence considering it's a constitutional mandate. ... I think a lot of people were just afraid to ask the question."

Last week, Palin, the former Alaska governor and vice-presidential candidate in 2008, said the public is "rightfully" asking questions about Obama's eligibility.

"Would you make the birth certificate an issue if you ran?" Palin was asked in an interview on the Rusty Humphries national radio show.

"I think the public rightfully is still making it an issue. I don't have a problem with that. I don't know if I would have to bother to make it an issue, because I think that members of the electorate still want answers," she replied.

Humphries asked: "Do you think it's a fair question to be looking at?"

"I think it's a fair question, just like I think past association and past voting records – all of that is fair game," Palin said. "The McCain-Palin campaign didn't do a good enough job in that area."

Palin said it was legitimate to question Obama's eligibility, referring to "the weird conspiracy-theory freaky thing that people talk about that Trig isn't my real son – 'You need to produce his birth certificate, you need to prove that he's your kid,' which we have done.

After Humphries' interview, however, Palin posted a message on her Facebook page under the banner "Stupid conspiracies," clarifying that she has not and will not press the issue of the president's eligibility.

"Voters have every right to ask candidates for information if they so choose. I've pointed out that it was seemingly fair game during the 2008 election for many on the left to badger my doctor and lawyer for proof that Trig is in fact my child. Conspiracy-minded reporters and voters had a right to ask ... which they have repeatedly," she wrote.

"But at no point – not during the campaign, and not during recent interviews – have I asked the president to produce his birth certificate or suggested that he was not born in the United States."