[Cincinatus' Wife]

For the Trump-is-above-any-criticism-about-anything-ever crowd.

[This_far]

That includes McCain?

[Cincinatus' Wife]

1:50 - 6:00 mark: I don't know if Cruz is a Natural Born Citizen - "Has this hanging over his head......If he has this cloud over his head... people have doubt.....I'm doing this for the good of Ted...."

[TigerClaws]

They are actually doing this for Obama.

Slate? They hate Cruz. They know if Trump were elected he’d release the truth about Obama’s birth out of the country. They want to define NBC this way to protect their guy.

Responding to the issues.

1. Cruz stepped up and released this info most likely as a direct result of Breitbart showing his mother was on the Canadian voter roles.

This posed a problem because, at the time, Canada’s oath of citizenship for new citizens required they renounce their previous citizenship.

With the b.c., Cruz has stepped up and said his mother was never a Canadian citizen. That clears up that issue.

2. Regardless of the b.c. or his mom, there are those that believe a NBC is determined by the status of the father, as per the framers. Madison was the primary architect of the Constitution and he wrote in 1790 requirements of naturalization that defined NBC born here in the U.S. and determined by the citizenship status of the father.

Likely any USSC today would go for the broader definition that a NBC was a ‘legal citizen of the U.S. at birth.’

But it’s not a resolved issue legally. It’s ‘highly probable.’

Finally, I like Cruz. He’d be great for the Supreme Court. He’s the most conservative of the candidates. My concern for him is the GOPe wouldn’t give him the money to run. They’d starve his campaign and they are more than happy to stick with Hillary. I don’t see Cruz getting many black votes. Hispanics, yes. I’d be happy with him or Trump, but think Trump has the edge given his broader appeal and bankroll.

Raising these issues isn’t ‘throwing rocks’ at a candidate. It’s vetting issues in house and bullet proofing a candidate so Hillary and the evil Clinton machine don’t chop them up later.

Better to bring up all the negatives now in the primary and then it’s ‘old news’ by the time the general arrives.

Let’s not get in a war that spills over into the general. We need to defeat the Dems. This may be our last shot to save the country.

[Bobalu]

I think Cruz IS a natural-born US citizen.

I think the SC would find in his favor.

He DOES need to address this NOW though.

IMO, as long as one parent is a US citizen then that suffices.

Especially if that one citizen parent is the mother.

With a father you never know for sure... but no one ever said to a mother “But are you SURE the baby is yours!?” ...lol

[libbylu]

LOL. Don’t forget they all cheer when he trashes someone which is multiple times daily and that is better than grits. His best attribute to trumpees, trashing someone, anyone, just too cool.

[RC one]

They’re “unsatisfiable crazy people” because they want a candidate for POTUS properly vetted? I guess that would explain how Obama slipped through.

[Godebert]

Note the reference to Natural Law in the first sentence of our Declaration of Independence.

It is crystal clear that the Founding Fathers used the Natural Law definition of 'natural born Citizen' when they wrote Article II. By invoking "The Laws of Nature and Nature's God" the 56 signers of the Declaration incorporated a legal standard of freedom into the forms of government that would follow.

President John Quincy Adams, writing in 1839, looked back at the founding period and recognized the true meaning of the Declaration's reliance on the "Laws of Nature and of Nature's God." He observed that the American people's "charter was the Declaration of Independence. Their rights, the natural rights of mankind. Their government, such as should be instituted by the people, under the solemn mutual pledges of perpetual union, founded on the self-evident truth's proclaimed in the Declaration."

The Constitution, Vattel, and “Natural Born Citizen”: What Our Framers Knew

The Laws of Nature and of Nature's God: The True Foundation of American Law

The Supreme Court of the United States has never applied the term “natural born citizen” to any other category than “those born in the country of parents who are citizens thereof”.

MINOR V. HAPPERSETT IS BINDING PRECEDENT AS TO THE CONSTITUTIONAL DEFINITION OF A NATURAL BORN CITIZEN.

The Harvard Law Review Article Taken Apart Piece by Piece and Utterly Destroyed

Citizenship Terms Used in the U.S. Constitution - The 5 Terms Defined & Some Legal Reference to Same

"The citizenship of no man could be previous to the declaration of independence, and, as a natural right, belongs to none but those who have been born of citizens since the 4th of July, 1776."....David Ramsay, 1789.

A Dissertation on Manner of Acquiring Character & Privileges of Citizen of U.S.-by David Ramsay-1789

The Law of Nations or the Principles of Natural Law (1758)

The Laws of Nature and of Nature's God: The True Foundation of American Law

Publications of the Colonial Society of Massachusetts, Volume 20 - Use of The Law of Nations by the Constitutional Convention

[cabojoe]

Thank goodness Cruz is putting this info out there. I signed some online petition a while ago, and Ted started spamming my inbox so bad asking for money that I thought he must be a Nigerian prince!

[elhombrelibre]

Trump said this was a non-issue in Sep 2015. Now, as he trails in the polls in Iowa, he switched it up. It’s like how he dealt with the Clintons. Hillary, Trump once trumpeted, would make a great president. Bill Clinton’s sexual harassment (perjury and obstruction of justice) was he said, “unimportant.” Then, he bashed George W. Bush after blessing off on Clinton’s bad behavior and crimes. Trump is always situational in his philosophy and ethics. He is untethered to a core principle. He’s okay with Cruz’s citizenship when it doesn’t harm Trump’s ambition. He’s alarmed and aghast at Cruz’s citizenship when it harms Trump’s ambition. He’s a fan of the Clintons when he wants them at his third wedding and to help him line up government business for his alleged 10 billion dollar empire. He’s against Bill Clinton sexually harassing when Bill Clinton might harm Trump’s ambition. There are no core beliefs that keep him steadfast without regard first to profit and power.

[John Valentine]

With all the brouhaha regarding Ted Cruz’s dual citizenship at birth, no one seems to be paying attention to the fact that Donald Trump was also a very likely to have been a dual citizen at birth and is to this day entitled to take up his British nationality with a simple application and nominal fee.

Here are the relevant facts:

Donald Trump’s mother was born Mary Anne MacCleod on May 10, 1912 in Stornoway, Eilean Siar, Scotland, UK and was a subject of the United Kingdom from birth.

In 1936 Mary Anne MacCleod married Fred Trump, a US citizen born in the Bronx, NY.

Mary Trump became a naturalized citizen of the United States on March 10, 1942.

Fred and Mary Trump had a son, Donald, born on June 14, 1946.

The above set of facts make Donald Trump a citizen of the United States at birth, just as the circumstances of Ted Cruz’s birth make him a citizen of the United States at birth.

The above set of facts also make Donald Trump a subject at birth of the United Kingdom, just as the set of facts surrounding the birth of Ted Cruz made him a citizen of Canada at birth. Both men were arguably dual citizens at birth and into adulthood.

The difference is that Ted Cruz has renounced his Canadian citizenship, but I have seen no evidence that Donald Trump, or for that matter his mother, Mary Trump ever renounced their British nationality.

Some might argue that Mary Trump’s US citizenship ceremony of March 10, 1942 would have sufficed to accomplish that. Those making this argument would be wrong as a matter of law.

A person may renounce British nationality by making a specific renunciation to the Home Secretary. Renunciations made to other authorities (such as the general renunciation made as part of the US naturalization ceremony) are not recognized by the UK.

I have been unable to discover any evidence, nor in fact any reference at all to Mary Anne Trump ever renouncing her British nationality in the manner required by UK law.

Under British law, children of British mothers and children of British fathers born abroad before 1983 can acquire a UK passport. Children of British mothers born before 1983 may require a nationality registration fee, which is free as of 22 November 2010, although any such child must pay 80 pounds for a citizenship ceremony. They also must undergo a background check into their eligibility and be of “good character” and attend the citizenship ceremony.

On its face, according to UK law and practice, Donald Trump is entitled to a UK passport merely for the asking and payment of a nominal registration fee, even today.

Does that not make Trump himself a dual citizen?

I’d hate for this eligibility issue to come back on Trump should he become the eventual nominee. Perhaps Trump ought to renounce his UK nationality as Ted Cruz did his Canadian nationality before this becomes a big issue.

Frankly, I don’t understand why this has not been made more of that it has. Folks don’t seem to have any problem making a mountain out of a molehill when it comes to Ted Cruz. Why is Donald Trump’s dual citizenship seemingly off limits?

[Yosemitest]

Maybe that will shut those TROLLS up (but I doubt it).

Exclusive: Birth Certificate for Ted Cruz's Mother

WHY feed the Piranha, WHEN all they're going to do is CONTINUE their baseless attacks ?

[Moonmad27]

I am convinced Trump did this on purpose to get the issue discussed and over with before he picks Cruz as his VP.

Despite your best efforts, I’m for Trump/Cruz 2016!

[DoodleDawg]

Unfortunately it’s a waste of effort. The clouds could part, angels could sing, and the mighty voice of God could confirm that Ted Cruz is a natural-born citizen and birthers would still be saying, “Yeah but what about...”.

[jocon307]

HA HA, pretty funny headline from Slate.

[The Ghost of FReepers Past]

LOL. Great headline.

[r_barton]

So he has a note from his mother to run for President. ;-)

[iontheball]

So, it is decided now that wherever a child is born and whatever the other parent’s bone-fides may be, just one U.S. citizen parent makes the off-spring a “natural born citizen.” I believe the framers are rolling over in their graves.

[St_Thomas_Aquinas]

He didn’t release a birth certificate, it’s a cookbook!

[MayflowerMadam]

Could be that Trump threw the birth certificate issue out there to give Cruz an opportunity to clear the fog early. Now he (Trump) has no obstacle in having Cruz as his running mate. It’ll save Trump time in the end.

[Duchess47]

Wow that is a seriously unbiased headline, isn’t it?/s