Birtherism delegitimated Obama by framing his presidency as unconstitutional
Evidence
The process starts by delegitimating opposition candidates and party leaders. Birtherism depicted Barack Obama’s presidency as a violation of the Constitution, and Trump is the chief birther, who referred to Obama as the “quote ‘president.’ ” He brought the conspiracist accusation from the periphery to the mainstream of political discourse, where it infected the formal processes of elections and threatened to keep Obama’s name from appearing on the Kansas ballot in the reelection campaign of 2012. — Russell Muirhead and Nancy L. Rosenblum, A Lot of People Are Saying, 201
Categorization
- XREF: Connects to the book’s broader thesis on conspiracist speech laid out in earlier chapters about the new conspiracism. — connects to: The birther conspiracy framed Obama’s America itself as illegitimate — Nikole Hannah-Jones et al., The 1619 Project: A New American Origin…, 624; The Obama presidency was framed as an ending that concealed an unfinished lie — Eddie S. Glaude Jr., Begin Again: James Baldwin’s America…, 113; Trumpism’s Islamophobic ideology predates Trump’s presidency, rooted in birtherism — Arsalan Iftikhar, Fear of a Muslim Planet_ Global…, 230 (+2 more)
Broader Connections
- The birther conspiracy framed Obama’s America itself as illegitimate
#expands(0.90) — Nikole Hannah-Jones et al., The 1619 Project, 624 - The Obama presidency was framed as an ending that concealed an unfinished lie
#expands(0.85) — Eddie S. Glaude Jr., Begin Again, 113 - Trumpism’s Islamophobic ideology predates Trump’s presidency, rooted in birtherism
#expands(0.80) — Arsalan Iftikhar, Fear of a Muslim Planet_ Global…, 230 - The doctrine of innate personality substituted biological birthright for blocked political advancement
#exemplifies(0.75) — Hannah Arendt, The Origins of Totalitarianism, 453 - Obama’s identity was a deliberate cherry-picking of race and faith
#complicates(0.70) — Hamid Dabashi, Brown Skin, White Masks, 578