However recently, Donald Trump has again brought up the controversy over Cruz's eligibility to run for president. He says that he is currently deciding whether or not to sue Cruz because of his efforts to run even though he is 'ineligible.' Trump claims to already have a lawyer lined up, ready to go.
Do you think Cruz is really ineligible to run for president?
Do you think Trump could actually be successful in suing Cruz for this reason?
Is Trump simply trying to get Cruz out of the running because of his shock at the results of the Iowa caucus?
Sources:
http://www.cnn.com/2016/02/16/politics/donald-trump-ted-cruz-lawsuit-threat/index.html
http://www.politifact.com/truth-o-meter/article/2015/mar/26/ted-cruz-born-canada-eligible-run-president-update/
7 comments:
First of all, I find it shocking that this debate has lasted so long. Is it not one of the responsibilities of campaign overseers to confirm that every candidate campaigning for the presidency is at least eligible in terms of age, citizenship, and residence? The Constitution provides that “No person except a natural born Citizen . . . shall be eligible to the Office of President.” The concept of “natural born” comes from common law, and it is that law the Supreme Court has said we must turn to for the concept’s definition (McManamon). There is no taking away that Cruz is a U.S. citizen; however, he was born in Canada, which mustn't be overlooked. It seems pretty clear that the Framers of the Constitution require the President to be born in the United States.
I may be biased. After all, I would rather anyone be President other than Cruz. However, it's a plain fact that the President needs to be a natural born citizen, and Cruz simply does not meet that criteria. Frankly, I do think Trump could be successful in suing Cruz. Though he may be trying to bump Cruz out of the running out of fear, I also think that Trump has made it clear that he doesn't particularly love having folks born in other countries here in America. So, there's another factor...
Source: https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/ted-cruz-is-not-eligible-to-be-president/2016/01/12/1484a7d0-b7af-11e5-99f3-184bc379b12d_story.html
The exact wording in the Constitution:
"No Person except a natural born Citizen, or a Citizen of the United States, at the time of the Adoption of this Constitution, shall be eligible to the Office of President."
It seems to me that this, as with every other section of the document, is open to vast and exhaustive interpretation and debate. We have an entire branch of government dedicated to figuring out just what the Founding Fathers were talking about. If Trump wants to take Cruz to court, that's his right. Who cares? It isn't going to change that fact that Cruz is hovering around 20% nationally. That's not how Trump is going to lessen his support. If any American citizen is actually crazy enough to want to be president, why should we stop them? It's not like Ted Cruz doesn't care for the interests of the American people like Trump would because he wasn't born in the United States. Being born in the U.S. is an arbitrary requirement for someone that's lived here for the vast majority of his or her life.
You might disagree with Cruz's policies, or his person, but it shouldn't matter that he was born in Canada.
Cruz was born in Canada, but it was solved a long time ago that he was a natural born citizen. This is an old, drawn-out argument. Time and time again, people have confirmed that, yes, Cruz can run despite being born in Canada. NPR wrote an article this past May about this argument and clearly stated, "The U.S. Constitution says presidential candidates have to be "natural-born citizens." But the Supreme Court has never weighed in with a definition, leaving it open to interpretation" (Montanaro). I disagree with Raswaglia, If his place of birth were a real issue, he would not have gotten so far in the presidential race, much less won Iowa and be a front runner. His claim is that since, "his mother was born in Delaware, he is, in fact, a "natural-born citizen"(Montanaro). I believe Cruz should be allowed to run. As NPR said, "two of the best-known Supreme Court lawyers — who are not normally on the same side — make the case that Cruz, as were McCain, George Romney and Goldwater, is eligible to run." If these people, who have studied the constitution more than nearly anyone else on earth, believe Cruz can win, he can win.
Trump clearly doesn't care about facts and is just using this to fuel his own ignorant followers.
http://www.npr.org/sections/itsallpolitics/2015/03/23/394713013/is-ted-cruz-allowed-to-run-since-he-was-born-in-canada
As rubytuesday and Olivia have both stated, it has already been proven that Cruz is in the broad sense of the term a 'natural born citizen' of the United States. Therefore I find it pointless, especially at this stage in the race for this 'attack' to be brought up again. If this had been of serious concern obviously the issue would have been dealt with at a much earlier time. Although I am not surprised in the least to see Trump going after Cruz in any way that he can. Since Cruz was able to pull out a victory in Iowa, Trump has definitely started to target Cruz more and more as Cruz has started to encroach on Trump's lead. As we have seen time and time again, when Trump feels threatened his first response is to make brash statements and go after the other candidate(s) who is doing well at the time. Right now that candidate happens to be Cruz. Trump has previously brought this up, but let the issue die down when he felt more comfortable with his lead. Now though as Cruz is showing well in the early primary season, Trump is once again going back to this desperate case of claiming Cruz is ineligible to run in the hopes of weakening Cruz's success. Therefore as Olivia discussed, if Trump were to really go through with suing Cruz, I don't see his case being successful at all.
To me, it is hard to believe that a man who was not born in the U.S. is allowed to run for President, especially since in the Constitution is states to become President you have to be a natural born citizen. However, it seems that Cruz falls into the category since he was born in Canada but from the United States. I do not believe that Trump could actually successfully sue Cruz, but I do believe Trump continuing to bring up the issue will hinder Cruz's ability to win primaries. It is clear that Trump is doing everything he can do to insult, and make fun of the other candidates, and just wants them to drop out early in the race so he can gain even more voters. Overall, I hope that people will realize Trump's main strategy he is trying to use is to feed off of the voters of the candidates that eventually will drop out.
The three requirements to be President is that one must be a natural born citizen, at least 35 years old and lived in the nation for 14 years. Although Cruz was born in Canada and was not born on American soil, he has stated that he is a natural born citizen by virtue of his mother, who was born in the state of Delaware and is a U.S. citizen. However, the Constitution clearly states that one must be born in the United States to be eligible to run for President. I am curious to hear how the court reacts and whether or not they will decide Cruz is eligible to run in the presidential election. Moreover, I would find it interesting if they made an acceptation to what is written in stone in the Constitution and let Cruz continue his journey in the race. In addition, I think it is really smart of Trump to bring this to the attention of the American public. Cruz is his competition and he is simply playing the game and doing anything he can to lose his competition and ultimately become the Republican candidate for nomination.
https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/post-politics/wp/2016/03/01/reports-lawsuit-challenging-cruzs-eligibility-to-be-president-thrown-out/
First of all, this lawyer business that Trump speaks of should not be at all intimidating because he has threatened to sue a number of people and in very few cases has he actually pursued. John Oliver did an exceptional job at explaining all the different situations that Trump has threatened to sue and failed to follow through. Therefore if I was Cruz or his campaign I would not have any fear of Trump's threat. The only thing that would concern me is the influence Trump's words have on people. People, I personally don't know who or how, gobble up the words of Mr. Trump and take them very much to heart. Therefore even his lies or speculations such as this could plant a big seed of doubt in the minds of many (unfortunately) Americans. Now onto the issue of Trump's accusation in the first place that Cruz is ineligible to run. I agree with Rubytuesday that it is a constitutional right that any natural-born American 35-years-old or older and a resident for 14 years is able to run for President. Cruz is a natural born citizen. For Trump to try to take this right away from his is despicable and further proof of how dangerous he would be as President. While I do not agree with Cruz on his policies, I nonetheless believe he is entitled to his rights.
http://www.npr.org/sections/itsallpolitics/2015/03/23/394713013/is-ted-cruz-allowed-to-run-since-he-was-born-in-canada
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