Trump, Palin boast about birth certificate release

Speaking to reporters in New Hampshire on Wednesday, Donald Trump took credit for President Obama’s decision to make his long-form birth certificate public, saying he was “proud” of his efforts.

“Today I’m very proud of myself, because I’ve accomplished something that no one else has been able to accomplish,” Trump said, according to NBC News. “I want to look at it, but I hope it’s true. ... But he should have done it a long time ago.”

Trump suggested to the media that experts would need to examine the birth certificate to verify its authenticity.

In his remarks at the White House, the president never explicitly referenced the real-estate mogul, who has been on a media crusade in recent weeks reviving the supposed issue over the president’s origins, but when Obama said the nation’s problems were too critical for the American people and the media to be “distracted by sideshows and carnival barkers” there was little doubt whom he meant.

Also jumping in the fray: Sarah Palin, who tweeted, “Media, admit it. Trump forced the issue.”

The White House chose the day that Trump made his most public exploration yet of a possible presidential run, as he was scheduled to meet with supporters and donors in New Hampshire throughout the day.

The chairman of the Republican National Committee, Reince Priebus, called the issue ”a distraction.”

“Our economy is strained from out-of-control deficits, debt, and unsustainable entitlements,” Priebus said. “The president ought to spend his time getting serious about repairing our economy, working with Republicans and focusing on the long-term sustainability of Medicare, Medicaid, and Social Security.”

The distractions may not end, however. Obama conceded in his White House remarks that the matter was unlikely to be put to rest completely.

And next up for Trump? He told the Associated Press earlier this week that he wants to probe the president’s education background. Obama attended Occidental College in Los Angeles before moving on to Columbia University and then Harvard Law School.

“I heard he was a terrible student, terrible. How does a bad student go to Columbia and then to Harvard?” Trump said. “I’m thinking about it, I’m certainly looking into it. Let him show his records.”

james.oliphant@latimes.com