Donald Trump accepts Barack Obama was born in US: Giuliani

Donald Trump has finally accepted that Barack Obama was born in the United States, according to adviser Rudy Giuliani.

The former New York mayor made the remarks during a heated exchange with Chris Matthews on MSNBC's "Hardball" on Thursday night.

"Donald Trump believes now that [Obama] was born in the United States," Giuliani said. "I believe it, he believes it, we all believe it. But it took a long time to get it out."

Trump had been one of the most prominent voices in the so-called "birtherism" conspiracy — the consistently debunked rumor that Obama was born in another country.

Matthews said Giuliani's comments mark the first indication that Trump has accepted that Obama was born in Hawaii.

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Trump claimed victory when Obama released his full birth certificate in 2011 but has never publicly apologized or acknowledged that his suggestions were wrong.

In 2012, Trump offered to give $5 million to the charity of Obama's choice if he released his college application and passport records.

During his "Hardball" interview, Giuliani also suggested that "Hillary Clinton's campaign first raised this issue" of Obama's birth during her campaign to be Democratic nominee in 2008. This was declared false by PolitiFact last year.

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The loyal Trump supporter also continued to entertain unsubstantiated rumors about Clinton's health, saying "she looks sick" and claiming she appeared to be in "a very, very strange condition."

However, when pressed by Matthews, Giuliani conceded he did not have any evidence of her ill health besides seeing her suffer what he called "coughing fits" in several videos posted "online."

When directly asked whether he believed Clinton was ill, he said: "I don't know."