White House adviser calls Trump’s birther talk a ‘sideshow’

The White House is finally responding to Donald Trump's flirtation with theories that President Obama may not have been born in the United States.

Appearing on ABC's 'This Week with Christiane Amanpour," senior Obama adviser David Plouffe called Trump's musings a "spectacle" and predicted his potential 2012 run would easily fail.

"There may be a small part of the country that believes these things, but mainstream Americans think it's a sideshow," Plouffe said. "And what they want our leaders to do is focus squarely on the issues right in front of us: how we're going to keep growing the economy … how we keep our people safe, how do we make sure we're going to win the future by focusing on things like education and innovation? So that's what they want us to focus on."

Plouffe noted Trump's rise in the polls, including a second place finish in last week's NBC/Wall Street Journal poll of potential GOP contenders.

"I hope he keeps on rising," Plouffe said. "There is zero chance that Donald Trump would ever be hired by the American people to do this job."

(Photo of Obama and Plouffe: White House pool via AP)