April 27th, 2011

05:55 PM ET

Oprah asks Obama about birth certificate

(CNN)– President Obama chatted with friend and supporter Oprah Winfrey about today’s big revelation, that he is indeed a U.S. citizen.

Obama said he requested and released his long-form birth certificate to “see if we can put this to rest” and turn the conversation back to serious issues, not "carnival barkers who are going around trying to get attention instead of actually solving the problems."
The president and first lady Michelle Obama took a seat on Oprah Winfrey's couch at Harpo Studios in Chicago just hours after the White House released the original birth certificate and Obama declared, "We do not have time for this kind of silliness."
Oprah asked Obama about releasing his birth certificate at the beginning of the interview, which lasted about an hour and included four commercial breaks. The entire interview will air on Monday's episode of The Oprah Winfrey Show.
In clips released in advance by Oprah's production company, the president made light of the rumors that have been plaguing him now for two and a half years.
"Can I just say? I was there, so I knew...I knew I had been born. I remembered it," said President Obama, tongue-in-cheek.
Obama stuck to lines he gave during his initial statement on the matter in Washington, but his growing frustration over the story overshadowing the White House message was evident.
"We are living in a very serious time. And America has huge potential and opportunity to seize the 21st century. We're only gonna get there, though, if we have a serious conversation about the things that matter to people," said Obama.