Donald Trump Questions Ted Cruz's Eligibility To Be President Over Canadian Birthplace

Trump Claims Cruz's Canadian Birthplace Makes His Eligibility A “Very Precarious” Issue. During an interview with The Washington Post, Republican presidential frontrunner Donald Trump argued that because Ted Cruz was born in Canada, his citizenship would be a “very precarious” issue for Republicans if he were to win the nomination:

Donald Trump said in an interview that rival Ted Cruz's Canadian birthplace was a “very precarious” issue that could make the senator from Texas vulnerable if he became the Republican presidential nominee.

“Republicans are going to have to ask themselves the question: 'Do we want a candidate who could be tied up in court for two years?' That'd be a big problem,” Trump said when asked about the topic. “It'd be a very precarious one for Republicans because he'd be running and the courts may take a long time to make a decision. You don't want to be running and have that kind of thing over your head.”

Trump added: “I'd hate to see something like that get in his way. But a lot of people are talking about it and I know that even some states are looking at it very strongly, the fact that he was born in Canada and he has had a double passport.”

[...]

Trump's remarks -- part of a backstage interview before a rally here Monday night -- come as Cruz is rising as a serious threat in the presidential campaign, especially in Iowa, where some polls have shown Cruz eclipsing the billionaire mogul. The two have had a cordial and at times even friendly relationship over the past year, but they are competing intensely for the support of conservatives as the Feb. 1 Iowa caucuses draw near. [The Washington Post 1/5/16]

Right-Wing Media Slam Trump For “Intellectually Dishonest” Attacks And Dismiss Questions Over Cruz's Eligibility

S.E. Cupp: “Trump Needs To Try A Different Strategy” Because Questioning Cruz's Citizenship Is A “Nothing-Burger.” Conservative commentator S.E. Cupp wrote in a January 8 op-ed that Trump's “line of inquiry” into Cruz's citizenship “isn't likely to have the results [Trump] wants,” adding that “Trump needs to try a different strategy” because “this nothing-burger of a story” won't “stick to the wall.” Cupp noted that Trump's attacks on President Obama's citizenship in 2008 “didn't work” and that “it's an even flimsier strategy against a fellow Republican”:

Try again, Donald.

Donald Trump's latest spaghetti strategy is apparently to see whether the suggestion that rival presidential candidate Ted Cruz is a Canadian will stick to the wall.

Despite pretty clear opinion that Cruz is eligible to become president, as he was born to an American citizen while in Canada, Trump has still managed to distract many in the media with this nothing-burger of a story. He's even offering Cruz some helpful advice to clear up the nonquestion.

“You go in seeking the decision of the court without a court case,” Trump told Wolf Blitzer. “You go right in. You go before a judge, you do it quickly. Declaratory judgment. It's very good.”

While I'm sure it is very good, Cruz is right to laugh this off, as he did with a tweet linking to the infamous “Happy Days” episode when Fonzie “jumps the shark.”

Because even though Trump is a master at goading his opponents into the shark-infested waters of his cartoonish imagination -- where suddenly they find themselves debating the merits of “Operation Wetback” or the meaning of “schlonged” -- this line of inquiry isn't likely to have the results he wants.

For one thing, it's been tested before -- by Trump -- and it failed. Trump wasn't the only one who questioned President Barack Obama's citizenship in 2008, but he certainly took it the farthest, insisting Obama produce his birth certificate.

After all the fearmongering about then-candidate Obama's origins, it still didn't scare enough Democrats and moderates or mobilize enough Republicans to give John McCain the win. In Trump parlance, he was a total LOSER in this fight.

If it didn't work against a Democrat, it's an even flimsier strategy against a fellow Republican, in a Republican primary. [CNN, 1/8/16]

Steve Deace: Trump's Attacks On Cruz's Citizenship Are “Intellectually Dishonest And Bankrupt.” Conservative radio host Steve Deace wrote in the Washington Times that Trump's attacks on Cruz's eligibility for the presidency are “intellectually dishonest and bankrupt.” Deace slammed Trump for “playing the birther card against Ted Cruz” after being “discredited” for similar attacks against President Obama in 2012:

Mr. Trump consistently tries to elevate himself by appealing to the worst in us, and he does so by playing to the same sneering stereotypes of conservatives many liberal elites like Mr. Trump cling to.

When Mr. Trump flirted with running against Obama in 2012, he played the birther card until the president released his birth certificate and he was discredited. Four years later, he's now playing the birther card against Ted Cruz, despite the fact he's been discredited once more from numerous sources.

Yet no matter how many times Mr. Trump is shown that birtherism is intellectually dishonest and bankrupt (like if Mr. Cruz isn't a natural-born citizen, why didn't he have to be naturalized to become an American?), in the comments section for this article you'll likely find a Trump supporter assert that both parents have to be natural-born for their children to be afforded the same status. Except in that case Mr. Trump isn't eligible to be president, either, since his mother was originally from another country. Just like Mr. Cruz's father was. [Washington Times, 1/18/16]

Rush Limbaugh: Questions About Cruz's Eligibility Are “Getting Into Bizarro Territory.” During the January 7 edition of The Rush Limbaugh Show, host Rush Limbaugh ridiculed those suggesting that Cruz's eligibility might be a problem. He described Sen. John McCain's comments on the matter as an indication that “it's getting into bizarro territory here now” and said he was “laughing” about the subject:

RUSH LIMBAUGH: The latest to join this bandwagon suggesting that Ted Cruz may want to actually go to court and get some confirmation on the fact that he's a citizen, it could be a problem out there, John McCain. John McCain now officially questioning Ted Cruz's eligibility to run for the presidency. It's getting into bizarro territory here now. Remember now, McCain was born in Panama, and his presidential eligibility is the same, and based on the same constitutionality as is Ted Cruz's.

It's amazing. Folks, I've scoured, and I left the program yesterday and this was a subject we were laughing about. I mean the way Trump was talking about it, raising the issue, but not opining on it. And because the Republican establishment is scared to death of either one of them winning, the gears got into full motion and people started investigating this constitutionally, intellectually. You would not believe. One website probably has 75,000 words written on this. And the 75,000 words include the learned opinions of countless other scholars on whether or not Ted Cruz is actually an American citizen. [Premiere Radio Networks, The Rush Limbaugh Show, 1/7/15]

Sean Hannity: “I See No Issue Here For Ted Cruz.” On the January 7 edition of Fox News' Hannity, Sean Hannity discussed Trump's allegations, stating that he “sees no issue here for Ted Cruz” and told Geraldo Rivera, who argued that the law wasn't settled on the definition of a natural-born citizen, he was “going birther ballistic”:

SEAN HANNITY (HOST): I see no issue here for Ted Cruz.

LAURA INGRAHAM: There's no issue whatsoever. He has dual citizenship, Sean, because his mom is a U.S. citizen, so he gets naturalized citizen[ship] as a result of that. This has already been looked into. In fact, on my radio show today, Chris Christie came to the defense of Ted Cruz, noting that, I guess at a rally, one of those Iran rallies on Capitol Hill, I believe even Donald Trump, according to Christie, had acknowledged that you know, Ted Cruz, of course, was eligible and just because he was born in Canada, in this case with his mom being a citizen, it didn't affect it.

HANNITY: He gave up his Canadian citizenship. Geraldo, you think there might be something to this?

[...]

GERALDO RIVERA: Let's go back. The Naturalization Act of 1790, three years after the Constitution, said the children of citizens shall be considered natural-born citizens. That's in 1790. Five years later, in 1795, they amended the Naturalization Act of 1795 and said the children of citizens, wherever born, are citizens. It excluded the phrase natural-born citizens when they amended the act.

[CROSSTALK]

HANNITY: Geraldo, that's a stretch, come on. That's a stretch.

[...]

HANNITY: I think you're going birther ballistic, and I don't think it's going to work. [Fox News, Hannity,1/6/16]

Mark Levin: “Friendly Advice Donald ... Cut The Crap.” Conservative radio host Mark Levin wrote in a January 16 Facebook post that Trump should “Either cut the crap” about Cruz's citizenship “or you will lose lots and lots of conservatives.” Levin slammed Trump's attacks as “liberal New York City bully tactics” suited for “Mitch McConnell and the New York Times” and instead challenged Trump to “Engage on real and substantive issues that matter to the country”:

//

Posted by Mark Levin on Saturday, January 16, 2016

[Facebook, Accessed 1/19/16]

Legal Experts Confirm Ted Cruz Is Eligible To Be President, Despite Being Born In Canada

ABC News: “Most Legal Experts” Agree Ted Cruz Is “Eligible To Occupy The Oval Office.” In a January 6 article, ABC News reported that “most legal experts,” and two former Solicitors Generals, agree that Ted Cruz “is eligible to occupy the Oval Office”:

Donald Trump says questions about whether Ted Cruz is eligible to be President of the United States could become a “big problem” for the Canadian-born Republican candidate. But among legal scholars, there's a consensus: He's eligible to occupy the Oval Office.

The Texas senator, who was born in Calgary, Canada, to an American mother, has been widely viewed as meeting the “natural born citizen” requirement of the United States Constitution. And most legal experts agree -- including former Solicitors General Neal Katyal and Paul Clement.

“An individual born to a U.S. citizen parent -- whether in California or Canada or the Canal Zone -- is a U.S. citizen from birth and is fully eligible to serve as President,” the bipartisan duo wrote in a Harvard Law Review article in March 2015. [ABCNews.com, 1/6/16]