“(at most, perhaps their grandparents were once citizens of a foreign land)”
Meaning that as of the moment of their birth, both of their parents at least had completed the process of putting their foreign allegiances in their respective rear-view mirrors, even if one or more of their grandparents hadn’t yet, or never did or would, make that leap of faith.
It’s all about purging the child’s life of direct foreign “country of origin” (or “unincorporated U.S. territory of origin” influence in the case of Gabbard) from either mom OR dad OR soil. Only that child is POTUS-eligible. No other need apply!
There is no evidence that NBC has ever required citizen parents.
My grandfathers 1917 draft cards had three options for citizenship:
Natural born
Naturalized
Alien
When they were born in 1893 and 1895, their parents were subjects of the Emperor of Germany or of Her Britannic Majesty Victoria.
None of my grandparents were ever naturalized. US citizen status was never questioned. Citizenship was required to be a teacher, which my grandmother was for 55 years and to vote, which all of my grandparents did.
If they were not aliens and were not naturalized, what were they?