Jerry Schweighart, the Mayor of Champaign, a city of 75,000 people, was responding to the interviewer’s question about his thoughts on President Obama. When the mayor doubted Obama’s citizenship, the interviewer requested details, and Schweighart went on to say, “You know, if you’re not willing to produce an original certificate, a birth certificate, then you’ve got something to hide.”
The 27-second clip doesn’t allow for further elaboration, but Schweighart explains his position to the AP when they interview him about the video. He repeats, “My stand, and I don’t understand why everybody is so upset, is he’s never shown the original birth certificate.”
YouTube user illinoisgrads posted this clip on the video-sharing site.
Schweighart’s statement (already attracting 110,000 views on YouTube within three days) harkens back to several months of debate over Obama’s citizenship. The birther movement has its celebrity backers, such as Sarah Palin. Various groups, on- and offline, are devoted to fighting what they call a smear campaign. The anti-birther groups are using the Web to promote their statement, publishing Obama’s birth certificate online.
Champaign is a mid-sized city in central Illinois, Obama’s former state. Champaign is known as a liberal university town; Obama won Champaign in the 2008 presidential election by a more than 2-to-1 margin over John McCain.
