Barack Obama citizenship conspiracy theories

During Barack Obama's campaign for president in 2008, through his presidency, and afterwards, many conspiracy theories were circulated, falsely asserting that he was not a natural-born citizen of the United States and consequently, under Article Two of the U.S. Constitution, that he was ineligible to be President of the United States.

Theories alleged that Obama's published birth certificate was a forgery—that his actual birthplace was not Hawaii but Kenya. Other theories alleged that Obama became a citizen of Indonesia in childhood, thereby losing his U.S. citizenship. Still others claimed that Obama was not a natural-born U.S. citizen because he was born a dual citizen (British and American). A number of political commentators have characterized these various claims as a racist reaction to Obama's status as the first African American President of the United States.

Such claims were promoted by fringe theorists (pejoratively referred to as ""), some of whom sought court rulings either declaring Obama ineligible to take office, or granting access to various documents which they claimed would evidence such ineligibility; none of these efforts were successful. Some political opponents, especially in the Republican Party, have expressed skepticism about Obama's citizenship or been unwilling to acknowledge it; some have proposed legislation which would require presidential candidates to provide proof of eligibility.

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