Another GOP Senator Pays Lip Service to The Birthers

Posted by Matt Corley, Think Progress at 7:30 AM on July 27, 2009.

Recently, the birther movement has gained greater notoriety, with CNN's Lou Dobbs promoting the discredited myth and right-wing activists confronting members of Congress. Though the conspiracy theory has been thoroughly-debunked, some Republicans continue to feed "the wacko wing" of the party. For instance, Sen. James Inhofe (R-OK) recently told Politico that he thinks the birthers "have a point":

But as if to illustrate the touchiness of the subject, [Pete] Hoekstra quickly added: "Not that this isn’t important."

Sen. Jim Inhofe has also tried to find the elusive middle ground.

"They have a point," he said of the birthers. "I don’t discourage it. … But I’m going to pursue defeating [Obama] on things that I think are very destructive to America."

It's unclear why Politico characterizes Inhofe's decided support for the "birthers" as an "elusive middle ground" stance.

Tagged as: cnn, barack obama, politico, lou dobbs, birthers, pete hoekstra, jim inhofe

Matt Corley is a Research Associate for The Progress Report and ThinkProgress.org at the Center for American Progress.