Birthers

The Shifting Birtherism Goal Posts

I’d like to see Sen. Ted Cruz (R-TX) try to run for president some day. Why? To see the Birthers’ heads explode. Turns out, being born from an American mother in a foreign nation is perfectly legal and acceptable according to Byron York.

Conservative commentator Byron York has written an entire post explaining to his readership that Sen. Ted Cruz (R-TX) is in fact eligible for the presidency despite being born in Canada because his mother was a U.S. citizen, making him a natural-born citizen.

“In the past few days, there has been renewed buzz on the Internet about the presidential eligibility of Texas Sen. Ted Cruz,” York writes. “In response to a request for comment, his spokesman, Sean Rushton, sent me this note: ‘Sen. Cruz is a U.S. citizen by birth, having been born in Calgary to an American-born mother.’” (My emphasis.)

Duh. Of course Ted Cruz is a citizen by birth. Yes, he was born in a country whose name bears an eery phonetic resemblance to Kenya, and yes, his dad was not a U.S. citizen at the time of his birth, but his mom was a U.S. citizen making him a natural-born American.

But see, Canada is a mostly white, mostly friendly nation and Cruz is a Republican. So everything is fine and dandy.