birther movement
2
8.6
- noun
- /ˈbɜrθər ˈmuːvmənt/
- Literature
:
movimiento birther
- This insane propaganda from the Birther movement is designed to distort the point entirely.
- Trump led the birther movement
- so-called birther movement
- led the birther movement
Examples
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But Governor Romney's decision to directly enlist himself in the birther movement should give pause to any rational voter across America.
Blog text (8) -
This silliness about the ring is emblematic of the birther movement as a whole.
Blog text (9) -
Racism is indeed the real reason behind the birther movement.
Blog text (8) -
The entire birther movement was built on racism.
Blog text (33) -
And, frankly, I find it difficult to listen to the Birther movement types without wondering about their motivation.
Blog text (2) -
Trump, who continuously tried to push the birther movement back into the spotlight, frequently criticizes the president on Twitter.
Blog text (12) -
The birther movement has preoccupied the lunatic right during his administration up to this point, but it looks like the Birthers have finally jumped the shark, and the right needs another angle to attack him viciously with.
Blog text (7) -
For those of you who don't keep up with politics (oh how we envy you), Trump has been behind much of the ridiculous "birther" movement that claims Obama wasn't born in the United States and thus isn't qualified to be president.
Blog text (26) -
The birther movement claimed that the president was not born in the United States, leading to widespread controversy.
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Many politicians distanced themselves from the birther movement after it failed to produce any credible evidence.
Synonyms
3
9.8
A belief that a public leader was not born in the country and so cannot hold public office
Surface Forms
Morphology
The meaning is directly built from 'birther' (a person alleging someone was not born locally) plus 'movement' (a collective campaign/group), so it straightforwardly denotes a group advocating that claim. This agent-noun + movement composition is a regular, cross-linguistic pattern in English and would be understandable to a B1 learner who knows both constituent words.
Etymology
The name birther movement comes from birth + -er. A 'birther' is someone who doubts where a person was born. Imagine people asking to see a leader's birth papers to prove they can serve, so the phrase means a group that claims a leader was 'not born in the country'.