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Donald Trump’s Birther Argument: Rubio Is Okay, Cruz Not Qualified

By Coburn Palmer
Published on: 10:57 PST, Jan 17, 2016

Trump’s “birther” theories have sparked a growing controversy in the Republican Party and critics are now using it to question the eligibility of Ted Cruz, Marco Rubio, and even Donald himself.

Donald’s “birther” theories have sparked a constitutional lawsuit in Houston questioning Cruz’s eligibility to be president, while Trump defended Rubio Sunday morning saying he was a natural born citizen.

Meanwhile, a strict interpretation of Donald Trump’s own “birther” theories could call into question his own eligibility to be president because his mother was born in Scotland, according to CNN.

“I would note that the ‘birther’ theories that Donald has been relying on, some of the more extreme ones insist that you must not only be born on U.S. soil, but have two parents born on U.S. soil. Under that theory, not only would I be disqualified, Marco Rubio would be disqualified, Bobby Jindal would be disqualified and, interestingly enough, Donald J. Trump would be disqualified.”

The question of Cruz’s eligibility to run for office came up during Thursday’s Republican presidential debate with the Texas senator suggesting Trump only brought the issue up because he’s being beaten in the Iowa polls.

Then, Friday Houston attorney Newton Boris Schwartz filed a constitutional lawsuit challenging Ted Cruz’s right to run for president, according to KHOU.

“Defendant Candidate Ted Cruz is not constitutionally eligible to be elected.”

Ted Cruz was born in 1970 in Canada to an American woman, which most legal experts agree qualifies him to be president, but that theory has yet to be challenged in court until now. The Texas senator held dual citizenship until he renounced his Canadian citizenship in 2012 after he was re-elected to the Senate. His father was a Cuban citizen who previously resided in the U.S.

Trump was quick to claim victory after the lawsuit was filed with a series of Saturday morning tweets, reports the New York Daily News.

“Ted Cruz was born in Canada and was a Canadian citizen until 15 months ago. Lawsuits have just been filed with more to follow. I told you so.”

The heated debate between Trump and Cruz escalated over the weekend after the Texas Senator said extreme “birthers” would disqualify Donald form being president because his mother was born in Scotland.

Meanwhile, The Donald said he supported Marco Rubio’s right to be president, because he was born on American soil, even though his parents weren’t citizens at the time, Trump said during an interview with CNN‘s Jake Tapper.

“It’s a different, very different thing because he was born here. He was born on the land. Ted was not born on the land.”

A Florida man has challenged Rubio’s legal eligibility to be sworn in as President of the United States saying he isn’t a natural born citizen. Rubio was born in 1971 in Miami to Cuban immigrant parents, neither of whom were U.S. citizens at the time.

The Republican primary race is heating up going into the Iowa caucus. Recent polls show Cruz in the lead in Iowa, followed by Trump and then Rubio in third. Nationally, Trump lead the Republican pack followed by second place Cruz and third place Rubio.

[Photo by Scott Olson/Getty Images]

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