Obama releases birth certificate, scoffs at ‘silliness’

"We do not have time for this kind of silliness. We got better stuff to do."

So said President Obama this morning, shortly after the White House released a copy of the long form of his birth certificate.

Afterward, Donald Trump took some credit for the document's release, saying, "Today, I'm very proud of myself because I've been able to accomplish what nobody else has been able to accomplish."

The certificate shows that Obama was born at Kapiolani Maternity and Gynecological Hospital in Honolulu on Aug. 4, 1961 - two years after Hawaii became a state.

The standard short form had previously been released, but the President asked Hawaiian officials for copies of the original, in hopes of ending speculation he was really foreign born and therefore unqualified to be president.

The form does not mention any religion, contrary to suspicions that it might have indicated he was born a Muslim.

"I can't get the networks to break in on all kinds of other discussions," Obama joked to the gathered media this morning.

"I have watched with bemusement, I have been puzzled at the way this thing just kept on going," the president said.

He said he decided to address the issue because it was become an unfortunate distraction, particularly after a budget deal was worked out with Congress.

"During that week, the dominant news story wasn't about these huge choices we have to make as a nation, it was about my birth certificate," he said.

"We're not going to solve our problems if we get distracted by side shows and carnival barkers," he added.

Developer and Celebrity Apprentice host Donald Trump, who has talked about a possible run for president, was at the forefront of recent questioning why the long form had not been released.

"I hope it's true so that we can get onto much more important matters," Trump told reporters in New Hampshire this morning, after telling CNN Monday night that the birth certificate was "missing."

"He should have done it a long time ago," Trump said, mentioning that even Bill and Hillary Clinton had called for the document to be released.

The allegations by so-called "birthers" have been dogging the president since the 2008 campaign, Obama acknowledged.

About 25 percent of Americans thought Obama was born outside the United States, according to a CBS News/New York Times poll released last week.

Trump this morning also called for the president to release his academic records, raising questions as to whether Obama was an excellent student or not.

In Iowa Tuesday campaigning for president, former Sen. Rick Santorum declined to take the bait when a birther asked about the President's provenance.

"There's plenty to not like about what the president's doing to our country, at home and overseas, as it relates to national security," Santorum said in Dyersville. "We should focus on those things important to the country."

The long form certificate and correspondence with the Hawaii health department can be seen on the White House Blog at www.whitehouse.gov/blog/2011/04/27/president-obamas-long-form-birth-certificate.