Trump doesn’t want to talk about his ‘birther’ comments, but Pence speaks up

Donald Trump won’t talk about his role as a so-called “birther,” those who have questioned the citizenship of President Obama.

But his running mate wants to end the conversation.

“I believe Barack Obama was born in Hawaii. I accept his birthplace,” Indiana Gov. Mike Pence told reporters on Wednesday, declining to say if he thinks Trump should apologize.

Earlier this week, Trump, with Pence at his side aboard the Republican nominee’s plane, refused to answer questions about his past comments in which he consistently speculated that Obama was not born in the United States.

In 2011, Trump was a vocal spokesman for the fringe conservative “birther” movement, raising questions in television interviews about whether nation’s first black president was actually born in Kenya. He called on Obama to release his birth certificate — which Obama did in 2011. Many viewed Trump’s rhetoric as racially charged.

Asked by reporters traveling with him this week, Trump declined to speak about it.

“I don’t talk about it because if I talk about that, your whole thing will be about that,” Trump said. “So I don’t talk about it.”

His response has been similar when asked about it in local television interviews in recent weeks.

These questions come as Trump has sought to court the support of black voters, who in national polls overwhelmingly support Obama and the Democratic nominee, Hillary Clinton.

On Tuesday, retired neurosurgeon Ben Carson, who challenged Trump for the GOP nomination and has now become a top surrogate in helping him try to boost support among blacks, indicated that walking back those comments could benefit Trump.

An apology, he said, would be a “good idea.”