Mitt Romney "jokes" about the racist birther attacks on the president. But the short-fingered vulgarian Donald Trump, slated for, in his words, "a big role" at the Republican National Convention, is deadly serious about it. After receiving the "Statesman of the Year" award (I kid you not) from the Sarasota Republican Club, Trump said:

[S]ome people thought [Romney's quip] might not be a joke. It happens to be an issue that a lot of people believe in. [...] Let’s just say this there’s a huge group of people that are not believers in what [Obama] did, what he said and where he came from. We’ll see what happens. Well see what happens over the coming weeks and months."

[...] I had a big role tomorrow night. You know what happened tomorrow night. So it’s now up to them. […] It’s totally up to them, whatever they like," he said. "They gave me a big role and I was looking forward – I was actually going to Tampa right after this, right after this dinner, but now I probably will be going back to New York. I may come back but I’ll probably be going to New York after the dinner. Asked to elaborate on what the "big surprise" was, Trump just said it was a "very big thing." "I think they're still going to probably do it," he added.

A very big thing from the leading birther in the nation for the Republican National Convention. Suuuure Romney was joking.

NOTE: Due to Hurricane Isaac, Trump has been bumped from the schedule.