In response to questions from ABC’s George Stephanopoulos, Donald Trump offered this explanation for why he’s not convinced Barack Obama was born in the United States (emphasis mine):

There’s a real question about the birth certificate. There’s a real question about the – his own – his own citizenship. … He doesn’t have a birth certificate or he hasn’t provided [one]. He’s given a certificate of live birth. It’s a much different instrument.

A Nesi’s Notes reader – who expects one of his two children will occupy the White House someday – wrote in to point out that by Trump’s reckoning, nobody born in Rhode Island can prove their eligibility for the presidency: the Rhode Island Department of Health gives everyone here a “certificate of live birth,” too.

Spokeswoman Annemarie Beardsworth confirmed that fact, and sent along an example:

Luckily for future commanders-in-chief from Woonsocket to Westerly, Stephanopoulos reports Trump is wrong – the U.S. State Department recognizes “certificates of live birth” as proof of citizenship.