Ben Shapiro: No prominent GOP figure ever questioned Obama’s legitimacy

Conservative commentator Ben Shapiro said he wasn’t aware of “a single major Republican figure” that made claims of former President Obama being an illegitimate president, seemingly ignoring President Trump’s repeated assertions that Obama was not born in the U.S. 

“Republicans impeached Bill Clinton in the 1990s, they never made a move to impeach Barack Obama despite the myriad of scandals that cropped up during his administration,” Shapiro said in a video clip reported Monday by The Daily Beast. 

Shapiro did not elaborate on the “myriad of scandals” he is referencing.{mosads}  

“I’m not aware of a single major Republican figure who said Barack Obama is not the president of the United States,” he added.

Trump help spur the “birtherism” conspiracy theory before he entered politics with unfounded accusations that Obama was not born in the U.S. He was among the most prominent figures to call on Obama to produce his birth certificate, not typically asked of presidential candidates, when he discussed a possible 2012 presidential run. 

Trump finally admitted the fact that the then-president was born in the U.S. in September 2016, without apologizing or explaining the change in his beliefs. 

Other prominent Republicans backed the conspiracy theory, including Rep. Mark Meadows (R-N.C.), who campaigned in 2012 saying he wanted to send Obama “home to Kenya.” 

Obama was born in Hawaii.