Obama aide dismisses Trump 'sideshow behavior'

[April 11, 2011]  WASHINGTON (AP) -- A senior White House aide says real estate tycoon and prospective GOP presidential candidate Donald Trump is displaying "sideshow behavior" in questioning President Barack Obama's American birth and respect for the Constitution.

Senior White House adviser David Plouffe says that "there's zero chance" Trump would be "hired" by the American people as president.

Plouffe's comment, a riff on Trump's business-themed reality TV show, came after he was asked on ABC "This Week" about the tycoon's recent swipes at Obama.

Officials in Hawaii have long certified Obama's birth there, but Trump has revived questions about whether the president was born abroad and now suggests Obama may have violated the Constitution.

[Associated Press]

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