Birther Fever Grips GOP As John McCain Tries To Get Ted Cruz Disqualified From White House

Last updated on July 17th, 2023 at 06:41 pm

During a radio interview in Arizona, Sen. John McCain got a little payback on Ted Cruz by going birth and questioning whether the Supreme Court will have to decide if Cruz is eligible to be president.

CBS News reported:

In an interview Wednesday on Phoenix radio station 550 KFYI’s Chris Merill Show, McCain said he “doesn’t know” whether Cruz’s birth in Canada makes him eligible to be president. Cruz, whose father was born in Cuba, asserts that he is a U.S. citizen because his mother was an American.

“I know that came up in my race because I was born in Panama, but I was born in the Canal Zone which is a territory. Barry Goldwater was born in Arizona when it was territory when he ran in 1964,” McCain said.

….

“That’s different from being born on foreign soil. I think there is a question. I’m not a constitutional scholar on that, but I think it’s worth looking into. I don’t think it’s illegitimate to look into it.”

Asked if the Supreme Court might have to weigh in on the “natural born citizen” issue, McCain said, “It may be, that may be the case.”

How hated is Ted Cruz within the Republican Party?

Cruz has managed to get John McCain and Donald Trump on the same insane birther page. One doubts that McCain has any concerns about Cruz’s eligibility, but that his comments were a way for him to put the screws to the Texas senator who he has had a years-long feud with.

Sen. Cruz’s eligibility is not much of a legal question. Legal scholars agree that because Cruz’s mother was a natural born U.S. citizen and his father was a U.S. resident, Cruz qualifies as a natural born citizen and is eligible to run for president.

Trump first went birther on Cruz during a local interview in New York in March of 2015. At the time, Trump said, “It’s a hurdle; somebody could certainly look at it very seriously. He was born in Canada. If you know and when we all studied our history lessons, you are supposed to be born in this country, so I just don’t know how the courts will rule on this.”

The Republican Party is destroying itself in a free for all civil war.

Birther fever has gripped the GOP, and made for some strange allies. Ted Cruz better get a lawyer and his long form birth certificate because the senator from Texas could be in for a bumpy ride.

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Jason Easley

Jason is the managing editor. He is also a White House Press Pool and a Congressional correspondent for PoliticusUSA. Jason has a Bachelor’s Degree in Political Science. His graduate work focused on public policy, with a specialization in social reform movements. Awards and  Professional Memberships Member of the Society of Professional Journalists and The American Political Science Association

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