The tragic plane crash death of Hawaii’s health director this week has brought out the conspiracy theorists who have long wondered about the real birth place of President Obama — including billionaire businessman Donald Trump.
The Los Angeles Times reported that Health Director Loretta Fuddy’s sudden death has sparked Twitter posts like: “The WH tying up loose ends?” Or, “What did she really know?” Or, “R.I.P Loretta Fuddy — we’ll know the truth about Barack Hussein Obama, regardless.”
Fuddy was at the heart of a long-running, conspiracy-laced debate about Mr. Obama’s birth, and whether he was born in Kenya — making him ineligible to be president — or Hawaii. The question was actually first raised by Hillary Clinton’s campaign, when she was first seeking the Democratic Party nod for the White House years ago. It was then seized upon by various groups — and by real estate mogul Donald Trump, who sparked a weeks-long speculation when he promised to discover the truth at his own investigative expense, during a period when he was mulling a run for the White House.
Mr. Obama did eventually produce his birth certificate from Hawaii — but then many alleged it was a forgery. It was Ms. Fuddy who actually verified the birth certificate as authentic, the Los Angeles Times reported.
Fuddy was also the only one of eight others on a plane crash this week that died — and some, including Mr. Trump, find that a little too coincidental to dismiss.
Mr. Trump tweeted: “How amazing, the State Health Director who verified copies of Obama’s ’birth certificate’ died in plane crash today. All others lived.”
Crash investigators were trying to determine if the accident was due to human error or mechanical failure. A spokesman for the National Transportation Safety Board said the agency’s findings should be ready within 14 days.
• Cheryl K. Chumley can be reached at cchumley@washingtontimes.com.
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