Right-wing pundit scorched for claiming zero Republicans challenged Obama's legitimacy

On Monday, right-wing commentator Ben Shapiro made a head-turning claim: That President Donald Trump deserves respect because no Republicans ever questioned President Barack Obama's legitimacy:

Confronted with the fact that Trump himself promulgated the "Birther" conspiracy theory that Obama wasn't born in the United States, Shapiro pled No True Scotsman, insisting that Trump didn't really count as a "Republican figure" back in the early 2010s when he was spreading Birther lies — and that Republican officeholders at the time didn't agree with the delegitimization of the president.

Unfortunately for Shapiro, the internet was quick to pile on and point out that he was still wrong on both counts. Numerous elected Republican officials parroted Trump's Birtherism, with dozens of GOP representatives cosponsoring a bill to force Obama to release his birth certificate in 2009. And far from being a "fringe figure," a number of Republicans also expressed support for Trump running for president in 2012, including Shapiro himself.