Bloomberg: ‘Birther’ issue ‘a terrible mistake’ for GOP

New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg said if Republicans continue to focus on the issue of whether President Obama was born in the United States instead of on housing and the economy, it will cost them electorally.

Bloomberg said on “Fox News Sunday” the American public is primarily concerned with being able to hold onto their jobs and wants Congress to focus on immigration, the debt and the economy, not a futile quest to prove the president was born abroad.

{mosads}”I think Republicans are making a terrible mistake in making this a big issue,” Bloomberg said with regards to birthers, prefacing his remarks by clarifying that Obama was born in the United States.

“My girlfriend always says that it’s all about housing and jobs. My house, my job. That’s what the public cares about. And if the Republican Party doesn’t start addressing that, they will lose — and they deserve to.”

The incorrect “birther” argument, which began during the 2008 campaign, has been brought back into the spotlight largely by Donald Trump, the reality TV star and real estate mogul who is flirting with a run for the Republican presidential nomination.

But Bloomberg said it’s not about Trump. “I’m a friend of Donald Trump’s — he is a New York icon,” the mayor said. “This birther issue is more than one person. There are a lot of roots that have glommed on to this.”

With regard to immigration reform, Bloomberg argued lawmakers should embrace immigration along with a path to citizenship for the 11 million illegal immigrants currently in the United States. He said it would be unrealistic to deport all illegal residents, so lawmakers should instead find a way to make them more productive in the U.S. economy.

“Slamming our thumb with a hammer because it feels good when we stop is a nice thing to talk about, but it’s not very good policy,” Bloomberg said.

“You’re not going to solve the problem … by yelling and screaming at those people. They came here, they broke the law, and let me tell you: This country encouraged them to come here and made sure that we didn’t stop them,” he added, arguing illegal workers were welcomed by relatives and industries seeking workers.

The mayor argued New York’s economy is thriving in part because of the influence of immigrants and said cities such as Detroit are attempting to recruit more immigrants to recover some lost population.

When asked if he is planning to run for president, Bloomberg replied with a definitive “no.”