A Case Study in the Evolution of Birtherism: Donald Trump

http://www.theatlanticwire.com/politics/2012/05/slow-evolution-birther-donald-trump-case-study/52830/

Elspeth Reeve 303 Views 3:47 PM ET

To understand the nature of birtherism, it helps to look at the case of another cultural phenomenon that has far outlasted the climate it evolved from -- Donald Trump. You might be asking yourself, how is birtherism still a thing, more than a year after President Obama released his long-form birth certificate? But that question has it backwards. How could birtherism thrive without the birth certificate? Before it was released birthers were waiting for the ultimate evidentiary shoe to drop. All attention was focused on demanding that single piece of paper. Now that the birth certificate is printed in effing Obama campaign mugs, for crissakes, the birthers can detach themselves from facts altogether and freely follow every one of their paranoid inclinations on whatever path they lead. Each false headline or inaccurate scrap of promotional material can be endlessly examined. Existence of the birth certificate was is the only proof the conspiracy needs. Why would Obama release his birth certificate if there wasn't a controversy?

Trump, too, is a product of such circular logic. His public persona is premised on his business savvy, but his success -- appearing as the host of a popular reality competition show, licensing his name to other people's real estate developments -- is all dependent on his persona of business savvy. And that is why Trump is the perfect public face of birtherism. He no longer has to prove his case, because it has already been disproven, so Trump is free to market himself and birtherism in the most flamboyant way possible.

Watch Trump go through the phases of birtherism until he finally throws of the shackles of the last remaining ties to reality:

Phase One: Say the Birthers Ask Interesting Questions.