MSNBC’s Welker: Trump Launched His Political Career Based on the Birtherism Idea

EXCERPT:

WELKER: “As you heard I pressed him on that and said, 'Hey, wait a minute what does that have to do with the president’s words and the president's tweets? Which, of course, many Democrats have come forward and said they believe is fundamentally racists. So it's putting top officials here like Marc Short in a very tough spot, Andrea. Bottom line, Marc Short wants to be talking about passing the USMCA, the replacement for NAFTA, that's something that the vice president is really spearheading here. But instead he is forced to defend the president and his very controversial comments. But, I do think it's important to go back to Peter Baker's words in 'The New York Times,' President Trump is doing this deliberately as he enters this tough fight for re-election. He sees this as something that is energizing clearly to some of his core supporters. And if you take a step back, Andrea, this has been his tactic in the past. We saw this in 2016. Remember, he, of course, launched his political career based on the birtherism idea, something he has since stepped away from but basically engaging in the race and culture wars is something that the president is very comfortable with and something that sees as potentially politically empowering, Andrea."