Timing off: Obama joked about ISIL at about same time of explosion in New York

by WorldTribune Staff, September 19, 2016

While addressing a dinner held by the Congressional Black Caucus Foundation on Sept. 17, Obama joked that Islamic State of Iraq and Levant (ISIL) was no big deal compared to the uproar over his birth certificate.

President Barack Obama speaks at the Congressional Black Caucus Foundation's annual Legislative Conference Phoenix Awards Dinner, Saturday, Sept. 17, 2016 in Washington. /AP/Pablo Martinez Monsivais
President Barack Obama speaks at the Congressional Black Caucus Foundation’s annual Legislative Conference Phoenix Awards Dinner on Sept. 17  in Washington. /AP/Pablo Martinez Monsivais

At about the same time, a terrorist bomb exploded in Manhattan, injuring 29 people.

“I don’t know about you guys, but I am so relieved that the whole birther thing is over,” Obama said. “I mean, ISIL, North Korea, poverty, climate change, none of those things weighed on my mind like the validity of my birth certificate.”

The explosion in New York City’s Chelsea neighborhood has been linked to a blast earlier in the day at a Marine Corps charity race in New Jersey.

The NYPD tweeted on Sept. 19 that 28-year-old Ahmad Khan Rahami was being sought by authorities in connection to the Chelsea bombing. He is a naturalized citizen from Afghanistan. He was subsequently captured after a gun battle.

Federal sources told CBS News that Rahami is believed to be connected to an unexploded pressure cooker device found near the Chelsea blast, an explosion in Seaside Park, New Jersey and five explosive devices found in Elizabeth, New Jersey.

Officials say surveillance video placed Rahami at the scene of both the Chelsea explosion and the unexploded device blocks away, CBS New reported.

Meanwhile, in St. Cloud, Minnesota, an attacker reportedly motivated by Islamic radicalism was shot dead after wounding eight shoppers with a knife, also on Sept. 17.

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