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View Full Version : Ted Cruz Responds To Birther Concerns Floated By Sean Hannity (VIDEO)




PatriotOne
03-19-2013, 06:53 PM
Ted Cruz Responds To Birther Concerns Floated By Sean Hannity

Original exchange w/Hannity video at link: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/03/19/ted-cruz-birther_n_2909774.html

Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Texas) wants to be clear: Although he was born in Canada, he is a U.S. citizen.

Speaking Monday night on Fox News' "Hannity", Cruz gave some insight into his recent keynote speech at the Conservative Political Action Conference and short time in the Senate so far. Towards the end of the interview, however, host Sean Hannity pointed out that recent buzz around the tea party favorite has gained Cruz some attention as a possible presidential nominee.

"Are you eligible to run for president? You were born in Canada," Hannity asked.

Cruz attempted to downplay the question and turned to his work "defending the Constitution" in the Senate.

But Hannity went on to note that while while Cruz was born in Canada to a Cuban father, Cruz's mother was a U.S. citizen, which led Cruz to agree that he was, in fact, a U.S. "citizen by birth."

Cruz was born in Calgary, Canada. His camp has responded to prior questions about his birthplace and presidential eligibility by stating that his mother's citizenship makes him a "U.S. citizen by birth."

Under the Constitution, eligibility for holding the office of the president requires the candidate to be a "natural-born" citizen. While the term is not defined concretely, birther conspiracy theorists have long insisted that President Barack Obama isn't eligible to be president because of their belief that he was born in Kenya, a claim they've argued would disqualify him regardless of his mother's U.S. citizenship. While Obama was in fact born in Hawaii, it appears that Cruz could be susceptible to the same kind of scrutiny that Obama has faced if he decides to run for president.

Hannity predicted that Democrats might use Cruz's Canadian birthplace against him in the future, saying that he heard "birther cries building on the left."