Ted Cruz Is ‘An Immigrant,’ Wife Heidi Cruz Says
Ted Cruz’s wife Heidi described her husband as “an immigrant” in an Indiana campaign stop, possibly reigniting the whole “birther” controversy.
Under Article II of the U.S. Constitution, the American president must be a natural born citizen who is at least 35 years old.
Republican presidential candidate Ted Cruz was born in Calgary, Alberta, Canada, to an American mother and Cuban father and held dual citizenship until 2014. Rival Donald Trump has repeatedly insisted that Cruz is not constitutionally eligible to serve and that the Democrats would immediately lawyer up should Cruz get the GOP nomination. Several years ago, as you may recall, Trump aligned himself with the so-called birthers who were similarly questioning Barack Obama’s eligibility.
In Greenfield, Indiana, yesterday, Heidi Cruz had this to say about her husband, the Texas senator, as reported by the Washington Examiner, as part of her remarks.
“Ted is an immigrant. He is Hispanic. He can unify the party.”
Donald Trump weighed in on the Heidi Cruz statement on Fox & Friends.
“It’s just so bad” @realDonaldTrump reacts to Heidi Cruz calling Ted an immigrant.https://t.co/sIJcv5YkF3
— FOX&friends Weekend (@ffweekend) May 1, 2016
“Most legal experts believe there is no question that Cruz is [eligible], but the matter has not been litigated,” the Examiner added.
A Ted Cruz campaign official explained that Heidi Cruz misspoke in describing Ted Cruz as an immigrant.
“As she has in numerous speeches over and over, Heidi was referring to Ted as being the son of an immigrant. That is a story she shares repeatedly on the campaign trail. It is an integral part of his background and personal story, one which resonates with the millions of Americans who share a similar background, and that gives hope to those struggling to climb the economic ladder.”
Heidi Cruz declares 'Ted is an immigrant' https://t.co/CLIdW5ENrt pic.twitter.com/wt62RElMe8
— The Hill (@thehill) May 1, 2016
At a campaign rally in Fort Wayne today, presumptive nominee Donald Trump declared “that’s what I’ve been saying” about the Heidi Cruz immigrant comment. “[Ted Cruz] was born in Canada, folks…and he has no path to win…and the first thing the Democrats would do…assuming he won, which he won’t…is they will bring a lawsuit against him…and he won’t be allowed to run…”
An NBC News/Wall Street Journal/Marist poll gives Trump a 15-point lead over Cruz, 49 percent to 34 percent, in Tuesday’s Indiana GOP Primary, with Kasich at 13 percent. According to the latest Real Clear Politics average, Trump leads Cruz by four percent among voters planning to cast a ballot on Tuesday’s winner-take-all primary in Indiana for a total of 57 delegates.
If this data is accurate, which remains to be seen, the Ted Cruz selection of Carly Fiorina as his VP running mate and a lukewarm endorsement from Gov. Mike Pence would appear to have done little to alter the trajectory of Trump’s momentum after landslide primary wins in New York, Connecticut, Delaware, Maryland, Pennsylvania, and Rhode Island.
Although, the tally differs depending on who’s counting and the methodology used. Donald Trump — the winner of 27 states so far in the primary season — has approximately 1,000 delegates to the RNC convention in his corner, with 1,237 delegates needed to officially secure the nomination as the GOP presidential standard-bearer in the November 2016 general election. The New York real estate mogul and ex-Celebrity Apprentice star is currently favored to win in California and New Jersey, where a total of 172 and 51 delegates, respectively, are in play.
“Part of the reason Trump still beats Cruz one-on-one is that Indiana Republicans think that the clumsy attempt at an alliance between Cruz and Kasich was, in short, dumb. Nearly six in 10 disapproved of the ploy, which lasted about four hours,” the Washington Post claimed.
At a campaign stop in Indiana today, Carly Fiorina appeared to have fallen off the stage after introducing Ted Cruz and his family. Hopefully, she is okay.
Do you think there is any legal basis to question the eligibility of Ted Cruz to serve as POTUS (president of the United States)? Was the Heidi Cruz “Ted Cruz is an immigrant” comment just a gaffe possibly brought on by campaign fatigue that should be disregarded?
[Photo by Darron Cummings/AP]
