Donald Trump is getting some backup in his newest political assault on Ted Cruz, a redeployment of the “birther” mythos, this time aimed at the senator from Texas. Ann Coulter is declaring that Ted Cruz isn’t a “natural born citizen” eligible to run for president. And she’s upping the ante even more, by linking Cruz’s own dubious American citizenship to what she perceives as his weakness on immigration.
The right-wing pundit, who has been selling her anti-immigration book ¡Adios, America! The Left’s Plan to Turn Our Country Into a Third World Hellhole, has campaigned actively with Trump, even telling a crowd at one of his rallies that The Donald’s campaign meant, “God hasn’t given up on America yet.” Wednesday morning, she took to Twitter to broadcast the notion that Cruz being an eligible citizen under the Constitution:
I thought so too until I looked into it. Lawyers I usually trust were playing fast and loose with the Constitution. https://t.co/3jJIsOlRjg
— Ann Coulter (@AnnCoulter) January 6, 2016
Trump brought this nonissue to the fore Tuesday, declaring: “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.”
Cruz was born in the Canadian province of Alberta, to a U.S. citizen mother. His father, Rafael Cruz, was a Cuban exile who at some point became a Canadian citizen, which he eventually renounced in order to swear U.S. citizenship in 2005. In 2014, Cruz the Younger legally renounced his own dual citizenship with Canada — after the very fact of his having it had apparently taken him by surprise.
Despite the fact that Cruz is plainly eligible to run for president, Coulter continued:
NYT: Cruz was born outside the U.S. to 1 American parent: “Under the Constitution this makes him a ‘natural born citizen.’” Absolutely false
— Ann Coulter (@AnnCoulter) January 6, 2016
And worst of all, she said Cruz is just like an “anchor baby.”
Same lawyers who said anchor babies are in the Constitution now tell us being born outside U.S to 1 American parent = natural born citizen.
— Ann Coulter (@AnnCoulter) January 6, 2016
It’s unclear if Coulter is implying that Ted Cruz was an anchor baby for his dad in the United States — or for his mom in Canada.
Photo: Photo: Ann Coulter speaking at the 2014 Conservative Political Action Conference (CPAC) in National Harbor, Maryland. Gage Skidmore via Flickr.
