Topic: WorldNetDaily
WorldNetDaily's big birther scoop is turning into a war of words between Donald Trump and WorldNetDaily's Jerome Corsi.
A May 24 WND article by Bob Unruh touted how Corsi, author of the dubious birther book "Where's the Birth Certificate," claimed that Trump 'reached out" to him "with a long list of questions about where the [birth certificate] issue is, and where it seems to be going":
Corsi said Trump specifically wanted to know what will happen next in the campaign to reveal the truth about Obama.
"He asked, 'aren't you discouraged?'" said Corsi.
"But why should I be discouraged? There's breaking news about Obama's eligibility, the book is selling well," he said.[...]
"I told him he needs to publicly say that the document in the vault, the original long-form birth certificate, needs to be exposed and examined independently," Corsi said. "The doctor's records, the Kapiolani records of Ann Dunham to corroborate she was in that hospital."
"I told him if you don't press these issues you can't be surprised if there are those who think you're working with Barack Obama [on the dispute]," Corsi added.
WND embeds a YouTube video of a Corsi radio interview in whichhe made the claim, but curiously does not identify whose radio show it was. Perhaps because it was on the radio show of Alex Jones, an even bigger conspiracy-monger than Corsi.
Why is WND afraid to credit Jones with the interview? Are they afraid that associating with Jones will make him look even more discredited than he already is?
This was followed up the next day with an unbylined article claiming that, "in a telephone call to WND senior reporter Jerome Corsi, Ph.D.," Trump "says he believes the 'birth certificate' released by the White House is forged," adding that "Trump told Corsi his own computer expert told him at the release that it was a computer-generated document."
Then, one little problem surfaced in Corsi's story: Trump denied Corsi's version of events. Trump issued a statement to Mother Jones:
I am proud of the fact that I was able to get President Obama to release his birth certificate. President Clinton couldn’t do it, Senator McCain couldn’t do it—no one else could do it! Frankly, many people were surprised that it took so long for this to happen. Is his birth certificate legitimate? I hope it is for the good of the country, but that’s for experts to determine—not me. I have not read the book written by Jerry Corsi nor did we discuss whether or not the birth certificate was computer generated or in any way fabricated. I merely asked him how his book was doing and wished him good luck.
WND has responded to this exactly the way you'd expect them to: by getting all pissy about it.
A May 26 WND article notes Trump's claim not to have read Corsi's book "despite having his staff sign a non-disclosure agreement to get the book three weeks before it was released May 17."
The article also states: "Corsi says Trump repeated a conversation he had weeks ago in a conference call with WND Editor and Chief Executive Officer Joseph Farah in which the building magnate said he is concerned about the validity of the document released April 27 by the Obama White House. Farah confirms Trump questioned the authenticity of the birth certificate and said others around him do as well."
Wait -- wasn't Farah denying that he had ever spoken to Trump just a few weeks ago (despite previously stating that he had)? Yes, he was.
WND then goes off on a conspiratorial tear:
Farah wonders aloud why Trump would ask for a copy of a book he had no intention of reading – even going to the extent of having his organization sign a non-disclosure agreement to get an early electronic copy.
"If he wasn't going to read the book, why go to the trouble of requesting a PDF copy and having your representative sign an NDA for it?" asked Farah. "Was his intent all along to violate the NDA and give it to someone else? Was his intent other than what he represented to us – to go to school on the eligibility issue? Trump needs to explain himself to someone other than Mother Jones. That doesn't sound like good faith to me."
Farah and Corsi say Trump talked about a golf course designer he works with – someone Trump described as a "genius" on the computer – who shared with him his expert opinion that the birth certificate was a fraud. Trump said he was considering renewing his calls for Obama to establish his eligibility, but wanted more to go on.
"He kept urging us to hold press conferences – assuring us he'd be right behind us, holding our coats, so to speak" said Farah. "When I pushed him to join us, he quickly backed off – saying he couldn't jump back into the issue right now. I have strongly begun to suspect that Trump had other motives than seeking the truth about Obama. I think he was pumping Corsi for information for some other purpose than being on the right side of history."
This actually falls in line with how the Alex Jones crowd promoted Corsi's interview with him. An article on Jones' Infowars site sums it up by noting that in his interview with Jones, "Corsi sensationally accused short-lived Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump of 'working with Obama' to neutralize the birther controversy."
Who's telling the truth here? We have no idea -- neither Trump nor Corsi are famous for their truth-telling, and Farah can't keep his story straight either.
As we've noted, WND is essentially betting it all that the birth certificate Obama released is forged, and it's going to some absurd lengths to keep that angle alive. Trump was a somewhat credible ally for WND to have on the issue.
With Trump bailing on them, WND seems to think it's more important to get in a pissing match with him rather than act like a real news organization. Then again, that's pretty much how WND has always operated.
