Has Breitbart Gone Full ‘Birther’ On Ted Cruz?

The Daily Caller ^ | January 14, 2016 | Rachel Stoltzfoos

[Cincinatus' Wife]

Breitbart News published at least 30 stories in the past week about Donald Trump's theory that Sen. Ted Cruz is ineligible to run for president because he's not a natural born citizen, moving into birther territory despite a previous categorical statement from a lead editor that Breitbart is "not a birther site."

"I think pretty categorically, I think I can talk for our editorial team and I can certainly talk for Andrew [Breitbart]," Breitbart editor-at-large Ben Shapiro said in 2013, responding to criticism over the site's coverage of President Barack Obama's birth certificate. "We're not a birther site."

A spokesman for Breitbart did not dispute Shapiro's statement, and defended the site's prolific coverage of Cruz's birth by saying it's a mainstream story. Kurt Bardella told The Daily Caller News Foundation it's "unfair and unusual" to single out Breitbart's coverage of what he called "one of the most dominant storylines of this year" that is of "tremendous interest to the Breitbart audience."

"Under this logic, every media outlet in America would be a 'birther site,'" he told TheDCNF.

Shapiro is an outspoken critic of the mainstream media and Republican willingness to play along with its power structure. "For years, I have been begging Republicans to stand up to the mainstream media," he said in a November Townhall post. "The left has dominated the media for as long as I've been alive."

A quick examination of a few mainstream media outlets' coverage of the story reveals Breitbart's devotion to Cruz's eligibility for the White House is equaled by The Washington Post, but far surpasses the appetite of outlets such as The New York Times, The Wall Street Journal and Politico.

"According to four sources with knowledge of the situation," Buzzfeed's McKay Coppins reported over the summer, "editors and writers at the outlet have privately complained since at least last year that the company's top management was allowing [Donald] Trump to turn Breitbart into his own fan website - using it to hype his political prospects and attack his enemies."

Trump, who is closely trailing Cruz in the Republican caucuses in Iowa, has been the lead spokesman for Cruz eligibility accusations. Following in the footsteps of Hillary Clinton, Trump also served as a prominent person questioning Obama's eligibility in 2011.

WaPo and Breitbart have been writing twice the number of stories on the subject of whether Cruz is natural born as those three outlets. Each of the two wrote at least 30 stories on it in the past week, compared to less than 15 stories each from TheNYT, WSJ and Politico.

WaPo's obsession with Cruz recently attracted public scrutiny when one of its cartoonists depicted his children as monkeys, but a comparison of Breitbart and WaPo's homepage's Tuesday shows Breitbart may be a bit more devoted to Trump's birther theory.

Here's Breitbart:

[SNIP]

And WaPo:

[SNIP]

Scroll down for screen shots.

[momincombatboots]

Interesting development. If Cruz isn’t eligible then Obama and the dems have a problem. That leaves me without a candidate, if true.

[Cincinatus' Wife]

A tidbit from the Washington Examiner today:

“.....On Jan. 11, New York magazine contributor Rembert Browne also danced around saying Trump’s name as he co-moderated a Democratic presidential forum hosted by Fusion.

“Uh, that Republican that you said we don’t speak of, Donald something? What did you get him for his wedding?” he said during a brief Q&A session with Clinton.

Browne’s question was in reference to when the Clinton’s attended Trump’s 2005 wedding to his current wife, Melania.

“Nothing. Nothing,” Clinton laughed. “He used to - he was basically a Democrat before he was a Republican, and he was, you know, somebody that we all knew in New York.”

“And he was supportive of Democrats. He was supportive of a lot of the causes that I cared about and that people I knew cared about,” she added. “Now he seems to have taken another road.”......

http://www.washingtonexaminer.com/interviewers-treat-trump-like-voldemort/article/2580452

[Greetings_Puny_Humans]

Breitbart is literally funded by a Ted Cruz Super Donor and has delivered email information and data on its readership to Cruz’s psychological analysis group. Most of its writers back Ted Cruz, including editor at large Ben Shapiro.

Mark Levin and the rest are doing their best to burn bridges to a news organization that’s literally in Ted Cruz’s pocket, for some odd reason, because they committed the sin of accurately reporting on an issue.

[Cincinatus' Wife]

Really?

They have an odd way of showing it.

[Greetings_Puny_Humans]

Really? They have an odd way of showing it.

Keep in mind, you are stupid, and are probably making this opinion without actually having read any of Breitbart's coverage, much of which was doing its best to get Ted Cruz an "out."

[kik5150]

30 birther stories by each outlet this week, with each and every one posted here by Puny_brained_human.

[Greetings_Puny_Humans]

30 birther stories by each outlet this week, with each and every one posted here by Puny_brained_human.

No, not really, but I COULD start making those threads if you like.

[Cincinatus' Wife]

When personally attacking other commenters, you never disappoint.

Check this out:

YouTube :56

Cruz Commander

[Greetings_Puny_Humans]

When personally attacking other commenters,

Like you do all the time? But, I repeat, you are stupid, and have not read Breitbart's coverage.

I'm quite confident that Mark Levin's hysterical bashing of Breitbart, calling them ***Holes, is also what contributed to Breitbart's coverage, because, suddenly, they had to justify why they were making the articles.

We have much to thank for Levin and the other Cruz-Bots overreaction to Breitbart, otherwise the story might have only been covered briefly.

[heshtesh]

Keep in mind, you are stupid, and are probably making this opinion without actually having read any of Breitbart’s coverage, much of which was doing its best to get Ted Cruz an “out.”

You are an embarrassment to intelligence, it must hurt to represent stupid to the degree you do on a daily basis.

[Cincinatus' Wife]

I do not insult fellow FReepers, though I cannot say the same thing for about how some of them repeatedly and crudely refer to and post to other FReepers.

[Yosemitest]

As the article U.S. Immigration and Naturalization Laws and Issues: A Documentary History The men who drafted the U.S. Constitution in the summer of 1788 realized that citizenship was bound to become an issue.
...Consequently, Article I, Section 8 of the new Constitution listed the powers given to the new Congress.
The third item on the list was the power to "establish a uniform rule of naturalization ... throughout the United States."
A year after the Constitution was adopted, Congress passed the first law that established a "uniform rule of naturalization": The Act of March 26, 1790.
The act was just the first in a series of laws addressing the issue of naturalization, ...

In January 1795, the act of 1790 was repealed and replaced by another law. ...
In 1798, the law on naturalization was changed again. ...
After Jefferson became president (in 1801), the 1798 naturalization law was repealed, or overturned (in 1802).
The basic provisions of the original 1790 law WERE RESTORED except for the period of residency before naturalization.
The residency requirement, that is, the amount of time the immigrant had to reside, or live, in the United States, was put back to five years, as it had been in 1795.
The 1802 law remained the basic naturalization act until 1906, with two notable exceptions.
In 1855, the wives of American citizens were automatically granted citizenship.
In 1870, people of African descent could become naturalized citizens, in line with constitutional amendments passed after the American Civil War (1861-65) that banned slavery and gave African American men the right to vote.
Other laws were passed to limit the number of people (if any) allowed to enter the United States from different countries, especially Asian countries,
but these laws did not affect limits on naturalization.


Another article well worth anyone's time is

On the Meaning of "Natural Born Citizen",
MAR 11, 2015, Commentary by Neal Katyal & Paul Clement

... While the field of candidates for the next presidential election is still taking shape,
at least one potential candidate, Senator Ted Cruz, was born in a Canadian hospital to a U.S. citizen mother.^15×
15. See Monica Langley, Ted Cruz, Invoking Reagan, Angers GOP Colleagues But Wins Fans Elsewhere, Wall St. J. (Apr. 18, 2014, 11:36 PM), http://www.wsj.com/articles/SB10001424052702303873604579494001552603692.
Despite the happenstance of a birth across the border, there is no question that Senator Cruz has been a citizen from birth and is thus a "natural born Citizen" within the meaning of the Constitution.
Indeed, because his father had also been resident in the United States, Senator Cruz would have been a "natural born Citizen" even under the Naturalization Act of 1790.
Similarly, in 2008, one of the two major party candidates for President, Senator John McCain, was born outside the United States on a U.S. military base in the Panama Canal Zone to a U.S. citizen parent.^16×
16. See Michael Dobbs, John McCain's Birthplace, Wash. Post: Fact Checker (May 20, 2008, 6:00 AM), http://voices.washingtonpost.com/fact-checker/2008/05/john_mccains_birthplace.html [http://perma.cc/5DKV-C7VE].
Despite a few spurious suggestions to the contrary, there is no serious question that Senator McCain was fully eligible to serve as President,
wholly apart from any murky debate about the precise sovereign status of the Panama Canal Zone at the time of Senator McCain's birth.^17×
17. See, e.g., Laurence H. Tribe & Theodore B. Olson, Opinion Letter, Presidents and Citizenship, 2 J.L. 509 (2012).
Indeed, this aspect of Senator McCain's candidacy was a source of bipartisan accord.
The U.S. Senate unanimously agreed that Senator McCain was eligible for the presidency,
resolving that any interpretation of the natural born citizenship clause as limited to those born within the United States was "inconsistent with the purpose and intent of the 'natural born Citizen' clause of the Constitution of the United States,
as evidenced by the First Congress's own statute defining the term 'natural born Citizen.' "^18×
18. S. Res. 511, 110th Cong. (2008).
And for the same reasons, both Senator Barry Goldwater and Governor George Romney were eligible to serve as President although neither was born within a state.
Senator Goldwater was born in Arizona before its statehood and was the Republican Party's presidential nominee in 1964,^19×
19. See Bart Barnes, Barry Goldwater, GOP Hero, Dies, Wash. Post, May 30, 1998, http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-srv/politics/daily/may98/goldwater30.htm [http://perma.cc/K2MG-3PZL].
and Governor Romney was born in Mexico to U.S. citizen parents and unsuccessfully pursued the Republican nomination for President in 1968.^20×
20. See David E. Rosenbaum, George Romney Dies at 88; A Leading G.O.P. Figure, N.Y. Times, July 27, 1995, http://www.nytimes.com/1995/07/27/obituaries/george-romney-dies-at-88-a-leading-gop-figure.html.

There are plenty of serious issues to debate in the upcoming presidential election cycle.
The less time spent dealing with specious objections to candidate eligibility, the better.
Fortunately, the Constitution is refreshingly clear on these eligibility issues.
To serve, an individual must be at least thirty-five years old and a "natural born Citizen."
Thirty-four and a half is not enough and, for better or worse, a naturalized citizen cannot serve.
But as Congress has recognized since the Founding, a person born abroad to a U.S. citizen parent is generally a U.S. citizen from birth with no need for naturalization.
And the phrase "natural born Citizen" in the Constitution encompasses all such citizens from birth.
Thus, an individual born to a U.S. citizen parent - - whether in California or Canada or the Canal Zone - - is a U.S. citizen from birth
and is fully eligible to serve as President if the people so choose.



---



* Paul and Patricia Saunders Professor of Law, Georgetown University.
** Distinguished Lecturer in Law, Georgetown University; Partner, Bancroft PLLC.

[libbylu]

.... According to four sources with knowledge of the situation,” Buzzfeed’s McKay Coppins reported over the summer, “editors and writers at the outlet have privately complained since at least last year that the company’s top management was allowing [Donald] Trump to turn Breitbart into his own fan website - using it to hype his political prospects and attack his enemies.
I had noticed this. They leave Trump stories up for weeks. Cruz is doing good to get a mention.
When they declared Trump the winner after last debate I wondered what the heck. Thank you DC.

[libbylu]

Cruz is eligible. They underestimate Cruz. Trump is about to get his comeuppance.

[Yosemitest]

Trump is having inside polling showing he3';s having problems and he's losing support to TED CRUZ, over the "FOR PRIVATE USE" part of this:

Donald Trump and Eminent Domain, August 22nd, 2015

... More, Trump has publicly defended the confiscation of private property for eminent domain, even when the use for which the property is confiscated is purely private in nature:

Trump consistently defended the use of eminent domain.
Interviewed by John Stossel on ABC News, he said:
"Cities have the right to condemn for the good of the city.
Everybody coming into Atlantic City sees this terrible house instead of staring at beautiful fountains and beautiful other things that would be good."
Challenged by Stossel, he said
that eminent domain was necessary to build schools and roads.
But of course he just wanted to build a limousine parking lot.

Once again, this is Donald Trump's vision of private property rights when he was just another private citizen.
Imagine how much more damage he could do as the leader of the Federal executive branch.

[libbylu]

Link please, Puny. You have no credibility with me. Zero.

[libbylu]

So that is why Levin called out breitbart last week for the birth nonstory? Zero credibility. Link please.

[Read Write Repeat]

If Cruz isn’t eligible then Obama and the dems have a problem.

Most awesome primary season in my adult lifetime, that's for sure! :)

[grania]

This isn't really a birther issue. There is no argument where Cruz was born. If Obama had to prove he was born in the USA to satisfy the critics, why doesn't Cruz? I don't think ANYONE at the time disagreed that Obama had to prove that he was born in the US.

We don't need another giant step down the slippery slope at this juncture, with the challenges faced by US sovereignty and traditions.