Read the entire sentence, 'Cruz identified himself as a dual citizen BECAUSE I pointed to him and said he was a dual citizen." The "because" is an explanation for Cruz's action of self-identification.
“...Read the entire sentence...”
But I did read the entire sentence — the assertion is from the classmate, as in it was the classmate’s idea to claim “dual citizenship”, not Cruz’s.
If it was Cruz’s idea in the first place, that might be something. But we know that Cruz was not aware he had official Canadian citizenship until 9 months before he renounced it. The article can’t be reconciled with that. Hence, the entire article seems a strawman argument from the get go.