Marsha Blackburn Demands Proof Obama Really Skeet Shoots: Is This the New Birther Movement?

Impact

Move over, birth certificate. Here’s the new demand for documentation from the president: Rep. Marsha Blackburn (R-Tenn.) wonders why we haven’t seen a single photo of President Obama skeet shooting, despite his recent claim in an interview with The New Republic that he shoots “all the time.”

“If he is a skeet shooter, why have we not heard of this? Why have we not seen photos? Why has he not referenced this at any point in time as we have had this gun debate that is ongoing?” Blackburn asked. “You would have thought it would have been a point of reference.”

“I’ll challenge him to some skeet shooting,” Blackburn continued.

See the exchange below:

When host CNN host Erin Burnett asked fellow commentator Roland Martin whether the president had an obligation to produce proof of his skeet-shooting hobby, he responded with an emphatic “no.” 

“Seriously, we went through four years of this man trying to prove he’s an American. Trying to prove he’s a Christian. I don’t need to see a photo of the president reading a bible to know he’s a Christian. I don’t need a photo of his birth certificate.”

“So seriously, and I really don't care,” Martin continued. “So, he doesn't need to show a photo saying oh, there's a president holding a gun because I've always thought it was stupid when a politicians would run these photos or video of them out, wading through the weeds to show everybody, hey, he's a hunter. It's really not a big of a deal and it's not going to change anybody's mind as relates to gun control in this country.”

White House Spokesman Jay Carney admitted he was not “sure how often” Obama skeet shoots, but said that “when [the president] goes to Camp David, he goes to spend time with his family and friends and relax, not to produce photographs.”

While the tone of this conversation was absolutely not as critical or inquisitive as calls to see the president’s birth certificate – verging on joking – we should still be calling for legislators to focus on solving issues pertinent to the real problems facing this country instead of taking cheap political shots at Obama at virtually every opportunity. Whether or not the president skeet shoots is, as Martin highlighted, completely irrelevant to the debate on guns.

But it’s worth noting that the president’s remarks came in a context which included a call for Americans “to do a little more listening” to gun rights supporters and emphasizing that he was “very explicit about believing the Second Amendment was important.” It seemed like a clear attempt by the president to calm the tone of the discussion and hinted he was willing to moderate his position if gun rights supporters would meet him halfway.

So, the president extends an olive branch – and gets mocked by the GOP for it.

Should we be surprised?