During Barack Obama's campaign for president in 2008, throughout his presidency and afterwards, "there was extensive news coverage of Obama's religious preference, birthplace and, of the individuals questioning his religious belief and citizenshipefforts eventually known as the birther movement, by which name it is widely referred to across media. The movement falsely asserted Obama was ineligible to be President of the United States because he was not a natural-born citizen of the U.S. as required by . Birther conspiracy theories were predominantly held by conservatives and Republicans, as well as individuals with anti-black attitudes.