Trump Thinks Cruz's Birthplace Could Be a Problem

Donald Trump, who spent years peddling "birther" conspiracy theories about President Obama, is now targeting somebody who really was born in a foreign country: Ted Cruz. In a Washington Post interview, Trump warns that the issue of whether the Canadian-born Cruz counts as a "natural-born" American citizen could keep the courts busy for years. "It'd be a very precarious one for Republicans because he'd be running and the courts may take a long time to make a decision," Trump says. "You don't want to be running and have that kind of thing over your head." Cruz, who was born in Alberta to an American mother and Cuban father, formally renounced his Canadian citizenship in 2014. His family moved to the US when he was 4, and he apparently wasn't aware of his dual citizenship until 2013.

"I'd hate to see something like that get in his way," Trump tells the Post. "But a lot of people are talking about it and I know that even some states are looking at it very strongly, the fact that he was born in Canada and he has had a double passport." Most legal scholars believe Cruz—who automatically gained US citizenship through his mother—counts as a natural-born citizen, and in September, Trump himself said, "I hear it was checked out by every attorney and every which way and I understand Ted is in fine shape," CNN reports. Cruz's only comment on Trump's remarks was a tweet linking to video of the famous Happy Days "jumping the shark" episode. (Britain's Parliament is going to debate a petition calling for Trump to be banned from the country.)