President Barack Obama dismissed a recent poll showing that a third of Americans don't know he's a Christian - and blamed an online campaign of misinformation by his conservative enemies for perpetuating the myth that he's a Muslim.
Obama, speaking with NBC Nightly News anchor Brian Williams on Sunday afternoon, was equally dismissive of conservative talk show host Glenn Beck - saying he didn't watch the Fox host's Saturday rally in Washington but wasn't surprised that Beck was able to "stir up" people during uncertain economic times.
Williams, sitting under a tent in a rain-soaked New Orleans, where the First Family commemorated the fifth anniversary of Hurricane Katrina, asked Obama why so many people were uncertain about something so fundamental as his faith.
"I can't spend all of my time with my birth certificate plastered on my forehead," quipped Obama, who took a deep breath to gather his thoughts when asked if the poll reflected his inability to communicate with voters.
"The facts are the facts. We went through some of this during the campaign -- there is a mechanism, a network of misinformation that in a new media era can get churned out there constantly," said a visibly annoyed Obama, referring to "birthers," who have waged a guerrilla campaign questioning either the existence or the validity of his Hawaiian birth certificate.
"I will always put my money on the American people, and I'm not going to be worried too much about what rumors are floating around there."
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SOURCE: Politico
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