Obama Campaign: 'America Doesn't Need a Birther-in-Chief'

Isaac Brekken/AP Photo

The Obama campaign is branding Mitt Romney an aspiring "birther-in-chief," after the presumptive GOP nominee seemed to joke Friday about the long-debunked claim that President Obama was not born in the United States.

In a 15-second web video produced nine hours after Romney made the remark on a campaign stop in Michigan, Team Obama accused Romney of "embracing unfounded conspiracy theories, distracting from real issues."

"Holding out hope Romney had a vision for the middle class? Think again," the narrator said.

The spot included a clip of Romney speaking in Commerce, Mich., when he said:

"Now, I love being home in this place where Ann and I were raised, where both of us were born. Ann was born in Henry Ford Hospital. I was born in Harper Hospital. No one's ever asked to see my birth certificate," he said drawing laughter and applause. "They know that this is the place that we were born and raised."

Romney later clarified in an interview with CBS News that the comment was "not a swipe" at the president and that he believes Obama was born in the U.S.A.

But that didn't stop the president's re-election campaign from seizing on the reference, nonetheless.

"America doesn't need a birther-in-chief," the Obama Web spot concluded.