Ted Cruz refutes ‘birther’ question at GOP debate, to Trump: the polls changed, not the Constitution
At last night’s GOP Presidential debate, Texas Senator Ted Cruz had to address recent “birther” questions, initially raised by Donald Trump. Fox moderator Neil Cavuto went the topic after one commercial break, here’s the exchange. Watch the clip below.
CAVUTO: ….And I’ll start with you, Senator Cruz.
Now you are, of course, a strict constitutionalist — no one would doubt that. And as you know, the U.S. Constitution says only natural-born citizens are eligible for the office of president of the United States. Stop me if you’ve heard this before. Now, you were born…
(LAUGHTER)
… you were born in Canada to an American mother. So you were and are considered an American citizen. But that fellow next to you, Donald Trump — and others — have said that being born in Canada means you are not natural-born, and that has raised questions about your eligibility.
Do you want to try to close this topic once and for all tonight?
CRUZ: Well, Neil, I’m glad we’re focusing on the important topics of the evening.
(LAUGHTER)
(APPLAUSE)
You know, back in September, my friend Donald said that he had had his lawyers look at this from every which way, and there was no issue there.There was nothing to this birther issue.
(LAUGHTER)
Now, since September, the Constitution hasn’t changed.
(LAUGHTER)
But the poll numbers have.
(APPLAUSE)
And I recognize — I recognize that Donald is dismayed that his poll numbers are falling in Iowa. But the facts and the law here are really quite clear. Under longstanding U.S. law, the child of a U.S. citizen born abroad is a natural-born citizen.
If a soldier has a child abroad, that child is a natural-born citizen. That’s why John McCain, even though he was born in Panama, was eligible to run for president.
If an American missionary has a child abroad, that child is a natural-born citizen. That’s why George Romney, Mitt’s dad, was eligible to run for president, even though he was born in Mexico.
At the end of the day, the legal issue is quite straightforward, but I would note that the birther theories that Donald has been relying on — some of the more extreme ones insist that you must not only be born on U.S. soil, but have two parents born on U.S. soil.
Under that theory, not only would I be disqualified, Marco Rubio would be disqualified, Bobby Jindal would be disqualified and, interestingly enough, Donald J. Trump would be disqualified.
(APPLAUSE)
(UNKNOWN): Not me.
CRUZ: Because — because Donald’s mother was born in Scotland. She was naturalized. Now, Donald…
TRUMP: But I was born here.
CRUZ: … on the issue — on the issue of citizenship, Donald…
TRUMP: (inaudible). Big difference.
CRUZ: … on the issue of citizenship, Donald, I’m not going to use your mother’s birth against you.
TRUMP: OK, good. Because it wouldn’t work.
CRUZ: You’re an American, as is everybody else on this stage, and I would suggest we focus on who’s best prepared to be commander- in-chief, because that’s the most important question facing the country.
(APPLAUSE)