ThinkProgress filed this report from Newport Beach, California.
At Texas Gov. Rick Perry’s (R) campaign stop in Orange County yesterday, an inauspicious character made a surprise appearance: “birther queen” Orly Taitz. Taitz, who has earned infamy for her long-held conspiracy theory that President Obama was not born in the United States, stood near the stage with a large sign reading “Go Perry 2012”.
Standing in the rope line after Perry’s speech, Taitz spoke with the Texas governor as he wrote on her sign, “♥ Rick Perry”. Audio of the exchange was difficult to make out, but according to Taitz, she told Perry that he will “get Obama” and “will have him in prison for Social Security fraud.” Taitz was confident that Perry was receptive to her message.
Taitz also told ThinkProgress that she’s “pretty sure [the Perry campaign] will” bring up the birth certificate issue, but she said their strategy “will be to wait and use it at the last possible moment to make sure that there is no primary challenger in the Democrat Party.”
KEYES: I saw you were able to get a bit of face time with Governor Perry on the line. What did you talk with him about?
TAITZ: […] From what I understood, he knew who I was and what I was talking about. […] I told him that you will get Obama, you will have him in prison for Social Security fraud. […]
KEYES: Did Governor Perry seem very receptive to your messages?
TAITZ: Yes.
KEYES: Do you think he’ll be taking that message forward, particularly with the birth certificate issue? Are you hopeful that he will?
TAITZ: I’m pretty sure they will, but I’m also sure that their strategy will be to wait and use it at the last possible moment to make sure that there is no primary challenger in the Democrat Party.
Watch it:
According to Taitz, she was “invited by local leadership of GOP” to the event, which was indeed held by the Orange County GOP.