Palling Around With Conspiracy Theorists

Senator David Vitter can’t seem to keep himself out of trouble this week. First he employs a convicted domestic abuser, with nary a comment from right wing moralists; now he’s lending the weight of his office to a completely unhinged conspiracy theory. At a town hall event with his Louisiana constituents, reports ultra-conservative blog WorldNetDaily, Senator Vitter encouraged conservative groups to challenge President Obama’s citizenship in court, saying he didn’t trust the “mainstream media” to verify that Obama was, in fact, born in Hawaii:

“I support conservative legal organizations and others who would bring that to court,” Vitter said, according to an Associated Press report citing a video of the event.

Vitter becomes just the latest high-profile leader, and the first U.S. senator, to take such a strong stand on the issue.

It’s also significant that the AP reported on Vitter’s comments. The news wire has stated the president’s “birth certificate” has been made public even though the image of the document posted online actually is a “certification of live birth,” which was available to those not born in Hawaii.