Senator Ted Cruz released his birth certificate on Monday to combat rumors that he would not be eligible to run for president in the United States.
The Republican Texas senator is a prominent member of the Tea Party and could run for president in 2016. But it seems birthers aren’t convinced he’s a US citizen.
In response to his critics, Ted Cruz released his Canadian birth certificate , reports USA Today. The certificate shows that while Cruz was born in Canada, his mother was a US citizen.
As such, so is Cruz. However, not everyone was satisfied with the response. The Dallas Morning News noted that, when he was born, Cruz also became a Canadian citizen and will have to renounce that citizenship in order to run for president.
The paper cited Canadian authorities and legal experts in making its assertions. But Cruz’s spokeswoman, Catherine Frazier, disagrees. Rather than the senator having dual citizenship, Frazier explained that he “became a US citizen at birth.”
The US Constitution says that only a “natural born” citizen can be president. But the general rule has been that anyone born overseas to an American president is still eligible to run.
While he doesn’t believe he has dual citizenship, The Washington Post notes that Senator Ted Cruz announced he will renounce his Canadian citizenship . He released a statement on Monday evening, saying:
“… I may technically have dual citizenship. Assuming that is true, then sure, I will renounce any Canadian citizenship. Nothing against Canada, but I’m an American by birth and as a U.S. senator; I believe I should be only an American.”
Cruz also commented that his mother told him he could claim Canadian citizenship should he ever rant to. But he never pursued the possibility and though the matter was settled.
Ted Cruz isn’t the first potential presidential candidate to be the talk of birthers. President Obama also had his citizenship questioned. Other
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