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Thursday, Sep 20, 2012 5:11 PM UTC

Alabama GOP chairman goes birther

The Republican said he thought a film espousing an even crazier birther idea is "absolutely frightening"

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Topics: Bill Armistead, Alabama, Republicans, Birthers, Barack Obama, 2012 Elections, ,

Alabama GOP chairman goes birtherPresident Barack Obama points to the crowd as he leaves a campaign event at Eden Park’s Seasongood Pavilion, Monday, Sept. 17, 2012, in Cincinnati, Ohio. (AP Photo/Carolyn Kaster)

There are the birthers who don’t believe the president was born in the United States. And then there are birthers who think that maybe the president’s father was actually Frank Marshall Davis, the labor activist.

The theory, which departs from that of the more traditional “Obama-is-a-Kenyan” birthers, goes something like this: Obama’s grandfather was an undercover CIA agent who convinced Barack Obama Sr. to marry Obama’s mother to cover up the fact that she was pregnant with then-55-year-old Davis’ baby.

Yesterday, the chairman of the Alabama Republican Party, Bill Armistead, reportedly dipped his toe into the latter category, telling a Republican women’s group that a film that purveys that theory is “absolutely terrifying.” The report came from Mobile Press-Register political editor George Talbot, who attended the event.

Joel Gilbert, the director of the film, called “Dreams From My Real Father,” describes it thusly:

“Admittedly, at age 18, Obama arrived at Occidental College a committed revolutionary Marxist. ‘Dreams from My Real Father’ presents the case that Frank Marshall Davis, a Communist Party USA organizer and propagandist, was Obama’s real father, both biological and ideological, and indoctrinated Obama with a political foundation in Marxism and an anti-White world view.”

Armistead and the Alabama GOP didn’t immediately return our request for comment, but we’ll update if they do.

Via Right Wing Watch.

Jillian Rayfield is an Assistant News Editor for Salon, focusing on politics. Follow her on Twitter at @jillrayfield or email her at jrayfield@salon.com. More Jillian Rayfield.

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