US President Barack Obama has seen off the ‘birther’ conspiracists who hyped rumors he was not American, now he is trying to rake in campaign cash from the row with a ‘Made in the USA’ campaign mug.
The white mug comes with a picture of the beaming president on the front, and a reduced rendition of his birth certificate, released by the White House in a successful attempt to quell the controversy, on the back.
"Last year, the President said, "'I can't spend all of my time with my birth certificate plastered on my forehead,'" Obama's 2012 campaign manager Julianna Smoot told supporters in an email.
"This is about as close as we can get."
"If the facts can't make these ridiculous smears go away, we can at least have a little fun with it."
The limited edition mug to help supporters ‘stay caffeinated for campaign events (and everything else)’ is available on Obama's 2012 campaign website, for a $15 donation.
In April, Obama on released his detailed birth certificate and warned that politics was not a reality show, as he slammed lingering claims he was not born in the United States.
In a surreal moment in US political history, Obama rejected conspiracy theories fanned by critics including property mogul and reality TV star Donald Trump, as ‘silliness’ detracting from monumental issues.
His birth certificate listed ‘Barack Hussein Obama II’ as born on August 4, 1961 at 7:24 pm in Kapiolani Maternity and Gynecological hospital in Honolulu, on the island of Oahu, Hawaii.