Image by twitter

Image by Getty Images

After Sean Spicer complained that The New York Times failed to get his birthplace right in a weekend story, Jake Tapper trolled the White House press secretary with a reference to the “birther” canard that boss Donald Trump used to denigrate former President Obama.

Image by twitter

Forwarding the News

Thoughtful, balanced reporting from the Forward and around the web, bringing you updated news and analysis each day.

Terms(Required)

I agree to the Forward's Terms of Service and Privacy Policy

Email(Required)

Questions over Spicer’s birthplace surfaced after The Times referred to him, before his stint in Washington, D.C. a Rhode Islander, as “New England-born” in a piece on the relationship between the media and the White House. He disputed that characterization on Twitter, but apparently declined to go on record to reveal where he was actually born, which the newspaper noted in a correction to the story.

President Trump burst onto the political scene as one of the leaders of the “birther” movement, which falsely alleged that Obama was born outside the United States, rather than in Hawaii as his birth certificate states. Obama got revenge on Trump for the remarks by mocking him as a vapid celebrity at the 2011 White House Correspondents’ Dinner, widely seen as an impetus for the billionaire real estate tycoon’s successful run for the presidency last year.

Contact Daniel J. Solomon at [email protected] or on Twitter @DanielJSolomon

The Forward is free to read, but it isn’t free to produce

I hope you appreciated this article. Before you go, I’d like to ask you to please support the Forward.

Now more than ever, American Jews need independent news they can trust, with reporting driven by truth, not ideology. We serve you, not any ideological agenda.

At a time when other newsrooms are closing or cutting back, the Forward has removed its paywall and invested additional resources to report on the ground from Israel and around the U.S. on the impact of the war, rising antisemitism and polarized discourse.

Readers like you make it all possible. Support our work by becoming a Forward Member and connect with our journalism and your community.

This is a great time to support independent Jewish journalism you rely on. Make a gift today!

—  Rachel Fishman Feddersen, Publisher and CEO

Support our mission to tell the Jewish story fully and fairly.

$90 $180

$360

Other amount