Another excellent reason for Trump not to be in this debate.
It forces others to bring up the Canadian issue, an issue that is obviously doing damage to Cruz.
This way, Trump keeps the issue in the news without dirtying his own hands.
Let Rand field charges of Birtherism.
This “natural born citizen” issue is by no means settled law and it’s not likely to be anytime soon. It is based entirely upon an originalist vs. dynamic/living Constitution argument and none of the papers from legal scholars or commentators on the issue can cite or infer the Framers’ intent with respect to the meaning of “natural born citizen”. Absent that clarity of original intent (even if they were so inclined), the courts can only refer to legislation subsequent to the ratification of the Constitution and amendments thereto. The fact that this view is supported by Donald Trump - who is obviously no originalist and probably knows less about the definition of the term originalist than he does about the nuclear triad is laughable.
As I’ve outlined before, if one were to take the originalist position on this issue, an American Indian would/will NEVER be eligible for the office of president. American Indians were not given citizenship until passage of the Indian Citizenship Act in 1924. Does anyone in their right mind believe that a federal court is going to make a decision that drastic and with such far-reaching implications - all of which go well beyond Ted Cruz?
What continues to bother me and many others about this debate over the meaning of “natural born†is the fact that Senator Cruz has never denied or attempted to obfuscate the fact that he was born in Canada of an American mother and Cuban father. That is not the case with Obama, wherein virtually everything about his past has been lied about, concealed or purposefully obfuscated, but somehow the meaning of natural born is now an issue to Donald Trump and many of his followers. If Donald Trump were genuinely concerned about the issue, wouldn’t he have filed suit to compel Obama to prove that he is a natural-born citizen?