Republican candidate Ted Cruz‘s issues with his citizenship have been keeping a lot of headlines lately, so his rivals did nothing but exploit this in their advantage. One of them is Donald Trump, as the GOP front-runner is using every occasion to question Cruz’s eligibility as U.S. president.
Currently, based on the country’s Constitution, the chosen president must be a “natural born citizen”. Ted Cruz was born in Calgary, Alberta, but his mother was a U.S. citizen, therefore he is eligible to run.
Cruz is not the first candidate to deal with this
According to Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, in an interview for ABC’s “This Week”, the Senate would not act to formally counter Donald Trump’s accusations. Also, McConnell mentioned that the Senator Canadian’s birth and the fact that his father was born in Cuba aren’t actual issues that should make him ineligible.
Back in 2008, a resolution passed by the Senate declared John Mc Cain a “natural born citizen”, even though he was born on a U.S. military base in the Panama Canal Zone, but to American parents.
“I just don’t think the Senate ought to get into the middle of this,” McConnell said. “These guys are all slugging it out in Iowa and New Hampshire. We’ll have a nominee, hopefully, by sometime in the spring.”
Ted Cruz has big chances of becoming the GOP front-runner
Ted Cruz is currently leading in Iowa opinion polls heading into the February 1 caucuses, the first primary contest in the nation.
When asked what he thinks about Ted Cruz‘s citizenship and if he was a natural born citizen, Donald Trump’s answer was simple: “I don’t know. I really don’t know. It depends. Does natural born mean born to the land, meaning born on the land? In that case, he’s not.”
Mr. Trump also claimed that this term has not been adjudicated, advising Cruz to seek a judgement.
“The Democrats are going to bring a lawsuit,” Trump predicted. “He’s got to have this thing worked out.”
Rand Paul also joined the attacks
Donald Trump is not the only one to question Ted Cruz‘s eligibility due to his birthplace though, as Senator Rand Paul also said that it was unclear if the Republican is actually a natural born citizen.
“I think the Democrats will challenge it at the very least and I think it will have to be decided by the Supreme Court,” he said on CBS’ “Face the Nation.”
As for what Ted Cruz has to say about this, he preferred a more diplomatic approach, refusing to engage with Donald Trumps and his attacks.
“Three weeks ago, almost every Republican candidate was attacking Donald Trump,” Cruz said during CNN’s “State of the Union.” “Today almost every Republican candidate is attacking me. And that kinda suggests something has changed in the race,” the Republican declared, quoted by The Huffington Post.
