A CONSPIRACY LAUNCHED BY HIS OWN CAMPAIGN
By Aamer Madhani, Sara Burnett Amanda Seitz And Jill Colvin The Associated Press
Posted August 13, 2020
U.S. President Donald Trump said he would have to look into claims that Sen. Kamala Harris, who is the 2020 Democratic vice-presidential nominee as Joe Biden's running mate, may not be eligible to run for office after Newsweek published an opinion article questioning her citizenship WRITTEN BY A TRUMP CAMPAIGN LAWYER!!!
President Donald Trump on Thursday gave credence to a false and racist conspiracy about Kamala Harris‘ eligibility to be vice-president, fueling an online misinformation campaign that parallels the one he used to power his rise into politics.
Asked about the matter at the White House, Trump told reporters he had “heard” rumours that Harris, a Black woman and U.S.-born citizen whose parents were immigrants, does not meet the requirement to serve in the White House. The president said he considered the rumours “very serious.”
The conspiracy is false. Harris, who was tapped this week by Joe Biden to serve as his running mate on the Democratic ticket, was born in Oakland, California, and is eligible to be president under the constitutional requirements. The question is not even considered complex, according to constitution lawyers.
“Full stop, end of story, period, exclamation point,” said Jessica Levinson, a professor at Loyola Law School.
Trump built his political career on questioning a political opponent’s legitimacy. He was a high-profile force behind the so-called “birther movement” — the lie that questioned whether President Barack Obama, the nation’s first Black president, was eligible to serve. Only after mounting pressure during his 2016 campaign did Trump disavow the claims.
Trump comments about Harris on Thursday landed in a blizzard of other untrue, racist or sexist claims unleashed across social media and conservative websites after Biden picked Harris, the first Black woman and the first Asian American woman on a major party ticket. The misinformation campaign is built on falsehoods that have circulating less noticeably for months, propelled by Trump supporters, and now the president himself.
“I have no idea if that’s right,” said Trump, who said he had read a column on the subject earlier Thursday. “I would have thought, I would have assumed, that the Democrats would have checked that out before she gets chosen to run for vice-president.
Trump made the comments in answer to a reporter’s question and appeared to be referencing an op-ed written by John Eastman, a conservative attorney AND A TRUMP CAMPAIGN LAWYER!!! who argues that the U.S. Constitution doesn’t grant citizenship to all people born in the U.S.
The president’s reelection campaign’s senior lawyer, Jenna Ellis, shared the controversial column on Thursday morning, hours before Trump was asked about it at a White House news conference.
Trump noted that the column was written by a “very highly qualified and very talented lawyer.”
Harris’ mother was born in India and her father was born in Jamaica.
But question of her parents’ birthplace is irrelevant, said Christopher Kelley, a political science professor at Miami University in Ohio.
“No, there’s no question about it,” he said. “It’s been recognized since the people drafted it back in the 39th Congress that (the 14th) amendment that would cover people not just born to American citizens but born on American soil.”
Republican National Committee spokesman Michael Ahrens said the national party has no plans to challenge Harris’ eligibility for the Democratic ticket.
Eastman, the former dean of Chapman University’s Fowler School of Law, where he is a professor, is also a senior fellow at the conservative Claremont Institute. According to his bio on the institute’s website, he also served from 1996 to 1997 as a law clerk to Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas and serves as chairman of the board of the National Organization for Marriage, which opposes same-sex unions.
He also ran in the Republican primary to serve as California’s attorney general in 2010. Eastman was defeated by a candidate who went on to lose to Harris.
“No, there’s no question about it,” he said. “It’s been recognized since the people drafted it back in the 39th Congress that (the 14th) amendment that would cover people not just born to American citizens but born on American soil.”
Republican National Committee spokesman Michael Ahrens said the national party has no plans to challenge Harris’ eligibility for the Democratic ticket.
Eastman, the former dean of Chapman University’s Fowler School of Law, where he is a professor, is also a senior fellow at the conservative Claremont Institute. According to his bio on the institute’s website, he also served from 1996 to 1997 as a law clerk to Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas and serves as chairman of the board of the National Organization for Marriage, which opposes same-sex unions.
He also ran in the Republican primary to serve as California’s attorney general in 2010. Eastman was defeated by a candidate who went on to lose to Harris.
Trump says he was ‘surprised’ that Biden picked Kamala Harris as running-mate
SUCH A BULLSHIT MOVE WORTHY OF WORLD WEEKLY NEWS
Newsweek, which published the controversial Eastman op-ed questioning Harris’ birthright qualification, defended the piece in their own op-ed Thursday, arguing that Eastman “was focusing on a long-standing, somewhat arcane legal debate about the precise meaning of the phrase `subject to the jurisdiction thereof’ in the Citizenship Clause of the 14th Amendment,” and not trying to “ignite a racist conspiracy theory around Kamala Harris’ candidacy.”
“His essay has no connection whatsoever to so-called `birther-ism,’ the racist 2008 conspiracy theory aimed at delegitimizing then-candidate Barack Obama by claiming, baselessly, that he was born not in Hawaii but in Kenya,” they wrote. “We share our readers’ revulsion at those vile lies.”
Other false and misleading rhetoric quickly emerged this week.
Conservative commentator Candace Owens posted a false attack on her Facebook page, claiming Harris had only started identifying as Black in the run-up to the presidential election. Until then, Owens wrote, Harris had solely described herself as Indian American.
Within 24 hours, nearly 200,000 users had liked the post — raking in more attention than Biden’s own Facebook post announcing his pick.
Donald Trump fuels 'birther' conspiracy theory about Kamala Harris
The US president repeats a discredited conspiracy theory which questions Kamala Harris's eligibility to serve in the White House.
WHEN IS HE GOING TO CLAIM THAT SHE IS ACTUALLY AN ANCIENT ALIEN REPTILE IN DISGUISE
Friday 14 August 2020
Trump questions Harris's eligibility to run for VP
US President Donald Trump has fuelled a discredited conspiracy theory about Joe Biden's Democratic running mate Kamala Harris which suggested she may not be eligible to serve in the White House.
Born to a Jamaican father and Indian mother in Oakland, California, in 1964, Ms Harris would be the first black and Asian American vice president if Mr Biden wins the November election.
Mr Trump - who for years led the false so-called "birther" movement which cast doubt on former president Barack Obama's US citizenship and eligibility to serve - told reporters he had "heard" that she "doesn't qualify".
Kamala Harris takes aim at Trump
He was responding to a question about an article in Newsweek by John Eastman, a conservative law professor, who questioned Ms Harris's eligibility under the US Constitution because both of her parents are immigrants - a theory that critics have branded "racist".
The president said at a news briefing: "I just heard it today that she doesn't meet the requirements and by the way the lawyer that wrote that piece is a very highly qualified, very talented lawyer.
"I have no idea if that's right. I would have assumed the Democrats would have checked that out before she gets chosen to run for vice president."
He added: "But that's a very serious... you're saying that, they're saying that she doesn't qualify because she wasn't born in this country."
The reporter replied that Ms Harris was born in the US, but the claims suggest her parents may not have been legal permanent residents at that time.
Earlier on Thursday, Jenna Ellis, one of Mr Trump's senior legal advisers, reposted a tweet from the head of conservative group Judicial Watch, which questioned whether Ms Harris was "ineligible to be vice president under the US Constitution's 'Citizenship Clause'".
Biden picks Kamala Harris as running mate
The US Constitution rules an American leader must be a natural-born citizen - which constitutional experts say makes the 55-year-old Californian senator eligible.
In his essay, Prof Eastman points to Article II of the constitution, saying: "No person except a natural born citizen... shall be eligible to the office of President."
His argument hinges on the idea that Ms Harris may not have been subject to "complete" US jurisdiction if her parents were, for example, on student visas at the time of their daughter's birth.
Constitutional law experts swiftly shut down the conspiracy theory, noting that the constitution is clear.
Josh Chafetz, a professor at Georgetown University Law Centre who specialises in constitutional law, told the website FactCheck.org: "To serve as president, one must be at least 35 years old, have been a resident of the United States for at least 14 years, and be a 'natural born Citizen' (Article II, sec. 1 of the Constitution). Additionally, one cannot have already been president for more than a term and a half (22nd Amendment)."
He also called the conspiracy theory "racist nonsense".
Meghan McCain, the daughter of former Republican candidate John McCain, tweeted: "This is a gross, dark trend in American politics about birth qualification which is all clear and obvious. Stop."
John McCain faced questions about his eligibility to serve as president, given he was born on a US naval base in Panama.
The Trump campaign's Senior Legal Advisor Jenna Ellis pushed a so-called 'birther' narrative Thursday about Kamala Harris
Ellis told ABC News it was an 'open question' whether Harris was eligible to serve as vice president
The top Trump adviser retweeted a controversial op-ed about Harris' eligibility penned by a law professor who, like Harris, ran for California attorney general
The editorial argued that she might not be eligible because her parents weren't American citizens when she was born in Oakland, California in 1964
A prominent legal scholar called it 'racist nonsense,' as Harris is the first black woman to appear on a major party's presidential ticket
President Donald Trump had pushed a similar theory about the country's first black president, President Barack Obama, floating that he wasn't born in Hawaii
By NIKKI SCHWAB, SENIOR U.S. POLITICAL REPORTER FOR DAILYMAIL.COM
PUBLISHED 13 August 2020
The Trump campaign's Senior Legal Advisor Jenna Ellis pushed a so-called 'birther' narrative Thursday that Kamala Harris isn't eligible to be vice president because her parents weren't citizens when she was born in Oakland, California.
'It's an open question, and one I think Harris should answer so the American people know for sure she is eligible,' Ellis told ABC News.
Ellis' views on the issue came to light after she retweeted a link to a 'birther' op-ed published on Newsweek's website Wednesday written by right-wing law professor John C. Eastman.
President Donald Trump's (left) campaign adviser Jenna Ellis (right) retweeted an op-ed questioning Kamala Harris' eligibility to serve as vice president and then backed up her move by saying it's an 'open question'
A Newsweek op-ed argued that Kamala Harris (pictured) may not be eligible to be vice president because her parents weren't U.S. citizens when she was born in California in 1964. One prominent law professor called the editorial 'racist nonsense'
Jenna Ellis serves as a senior legal adviser to the Trump campaign. A Trump campaign spokesman has yet to respond to DailyMail.com's request for comment on whether the campaign stands by her questioning of Harris' eligibility
ABC News first reported Jenna Ellis' comments on Kamala Harris' eligibility to serve as vice president after Ellis retweeted the 'birther' op-ed. She told reporter Will Steakin that, 'It's an open question, and one I think Harris should answer so the American people know for sure she is eligible'
Kamala Harris is pictured with her mother Shyamala Gopalan (left), who was born in India, and her father Donald Harris (right), who was born in Jamaica
A Trump campaign spokesman has yet to respond to DailyMail.com's inquiry on whether the campaign stands by her statement.
Eastman pointed to how Article 2 of the Constitution says only a 'natural born citizen' can serve as vice president and president, but suggests there's some interpretation of the 14th Amendment's Citizenship Clause that could exclude someone in Harris' situation.
He also argued that while the modern view of citizenship includes every person born on American soil, that belief started after Harris was born in 1964. 'Indeed, the Supreme Court has that anyone born on U.S. soil, no matter the circumstances of the parents, is automatically a U.S. citizen,' he also wrote.
Eastman had run as a Republican in 2010 for California attorney general, but lost his primary. Harris ultimately won the position as a Democrat.
Eastman's op-ed received tremendous backlash, with many pointing out that it echoed the conspiracy theory pushed by President Donald Trump and others during President Barack Obama's tenure.
Josh Chafetz, a professor at Georgetown University Law Center, called Eastman's interpretation of eligibility as 'racist nonsense,' in a FactCheck.org post on the controversy.
Businessman Trump was one of the most prominent voices to push the 'birther' conspiracy about Obama, doing so in early April 2011.
Trump, who was mulling taking on Obama in the 2012 election, made a number of bogus claims including that Obama's 'certificate of live birth' was not an actual 'birth certificate.'
The president was trying to push the racist narrative that Obama was born in Africa, where his black father was from.
Obama countered at the White House Correspondents' Dinner in late April by jokingly showing the audience his 'official birth video' - the opening scenes of Disney's 'The Lion King.'
But days earlier, in a move that showed Obama took the political threat seriously, the White House released the president's long form birth certificate.
It wasn't until Trump was running in 2016 that he admitted that Obama was born in the United States - though he also claimed, falsely, that it was Hillary Clinton's 2008 campaign that started the 'birther' conspiracy theory to begin with.
Harris is the second person of color to appear on a major party's presidential ballot and the second Democratic politician in recent years that Republicans have tried to suggest was born outside the U.S.
HOW THE PHRASE 'NATURAL BORN CITIZEN' KEEPS SPARKING 'BIRTHER' MOVEMENTS
The Constitution spells out who is eligible for the presidency in Clause 5 of Article 2: 'No Person except a natural born Citizen, or a Citizen of the United States, at the time of the Adoption of this Constitution, shall be eligible to the Office of President; neither shall any person be eligible to that Office who shall not have attained to the Age of thirty five Years, and been fourteen Years a Resident within the United States.'
And the 12th Amendment extends those qualifications to the vice-president.
Left unexplained is what 'natural born citizen' means - and the phrase is defined in no other piece of legislation.
But the 14th Amendment of 1868 is also in the Constitution - and defines who is a citizen.
It says: 'All persons born or naturalized in the United States and subject to the jurisdiction thereof, are citizens of the United States and of the State wherein they reside.'
In 1873 the Supreme Court ruled that the phrase 'subject to its jurisdiction' was intended to exclude children of non-citizen immigrants.
But that decision was in an arcane question - about whether the 14th Amendment only guaranteed rights to people who were U.S. citizens, and didn't cover anyone who was only granted 'citizenship of the state' by an individual U.S. state - in other words, were free to live and work there.
The majority opinion includes a note that 'the phrase "subject to its jurisdiction" was intended to 'exclude from its operation children of ministers, consuls, and citizens or subjects of foreign States born within the United States.'
Two years later the high court ruled that immigrants can only have automatic citizenship for their children when they – the adults – owe 'allegiance' to the U.S. and not to a foreign nation.
The concept of allegiance means little today but most people at the time were born in monarchies with limited rights and were subjects, not citizens - and until you became an American citizen, you were still owing allegiance to that monarch, it was argued. 'Allegiance' to a foreign monarch and being subject to American 'jurisdiction' were not compatible, the justices ruled.
But then in 1898 the Supreme Court ruled that a specific Chinese immigrant's child was a citizen of the United States, citing the 14th Amendment's text.
In the case, about Wing Kim Arg, the justices ruled that 'a child born in the United States, of parents of Chinese descent, who, at the time of his birth, are subjects of the Emperor of China, but have a permanent domicile and residence in the United States, and are there carrying on business, and are not employed in any diplomatic or official capacity under the Emperor of China' was automatically a citizen.
That ruling has been the bedrock of birthright citizenship - known as jus soli - and has led to the other opinions about the amendment being seen as being superseded - although they have never formally been overturned.
The dissenters - or in cruder terms, the losers - said the 14th Amendment and those who passed it intended citizenship to be only for those not claimed by any foreign power in any form, so natural-born citizenship was hereditary - a concept known as jus sanguinis.
Since then the Supreme Court has ruled that a woman born in New York to one U.S. citizen father but brought up abroad was eligible to run for president - she did not - but has never explicitly ruled on whether someone born to one or two non-citizens can.
The fact that scores of millions of Americans have been considered citizens by the federal government in exactly those circumstances would seem to suggest how the justices would rule.
But it leaves Kamala Harris 'birthers' a very narrow opportunity to argue that the Supreme Court has never ruled clearly that being born in the U.S. to non-citizen parents makes you 'natural born' - as opposed to simply a citizen.
One - in a Newsweek op-ed - claimed that because Mexican guest-workers' American-born children had been deported in the 1920s, 1940s, and 1950s - the idea of 'birthright citizenship' for all really dates from after Harris' birth.
He also claimed that it was unclear exactly what Harris' parents' legal status was and that if they did not have green cards, that might disqualify her too.
Harris, however, is not the first candidate to face questions over eligibility thanks to her parents.
Obama - as well as the bogus claim he was not born in the United States - faced ultra-fringe birther questions because his father was a Kenyan; and the oldest example was Chester Arthur, whose mother alone was American and who also faced questions over a rumor he was born in Canada, not Vermont.
Unhelpfully for birthers, none of those who faced these questions were successfully disqualified by any court - in fact, no challenge of the kind has ever succeeded.
Perhaps even more unhelpfully, the Newsweek op-ed writer, law professor John Eastman, previously campaigned for Ted Cruz, who was born in Canada to one U.S. citizen parent and a Cuban father, suggesting his claim that Harris might not be eligible was more politically expedient that constitutionally sound.
DEBUNKING FALSE STORIES
Kamala Harris Is Eligible to Serve as President
By Bala Thenappan
Posted on August 11, 2020
Quick Take
Kamala Harris, former Vice President Joe Biden’s running mate, is eligible to serve as U.S. president, contrary to the false claims of viral posts on Facebook. Her mother is from India and her father from Jamaica — but Harris was born in Oakland, California.
Full Story
Former Vice President Joe Biden, the presumptive Democratic presidential nominee, announced on Twitter on Aug. 11 that his vice presidential running mate is California Sen. Kamala Harris.
But multiple posts on Facebook falsely claim that — in the event Biden is unable to serve out his term –Harris is ineligible to serve as president because she’s an “anchor baby” whose parents are immigrants.
Days before Biden had even announced his choice of running mate, the posts said: “Joe Biden chose Kamala Harris as his VP.” The posts go on to claim, “If crazy Joe cannot serve his full term, Kamala cannot by constitutional law become President. She is an anchor baby, mother is from India, father is Jamaican, and neither were american citizens at time of her birth. That means the Presidency would fall on Speaker of the house. Recently Nancy Pelosi stated that she was next in line to become President. THAT in itself is reason to vote her out in November. Democrats have worked the whole scenario out and I believe that is why they chose Kamala Harris.”
In an email to FactCheck.Org, Josh Chafetz, a professor at Georgetown University Law Center who specializes in constitutional law, described the Facebook posts as “racist nonsense.”
Chafetz explained: “To serve as president, one must be at least 35 years old, have been a resident of the United States for at least 14 years, and be a ‘natural born Citizen’ (Article II, sec. 1 of the Constitution). Additionally, one cannot have already been president for more than a term and a half (22nd Amendment).”
As we’ve reported before, Harris, whose mother is from India and whose father is from Jamaica, was born in Oakland, California, which makes her a natural born U.S. citizen and eligible to serve as president. She was born Oct. 20, 1964, according to the Biographical Directory of the United States Congress.
Chafetz added that the fact that Harris’s parents are immigrants is “wholly irrelevant.”
Editor’s note: FactCheck.org is one of several organizations working with Facebook to debunk misinformation shared on social media. Our previous stories can be found here.
Sources
“Biden’s VP Pick: Who is the Front Runner Kamala Harris?” BBC. 11 Aug 2020.
“Biden Picks Kamala Harris as His Running Mate.” Bloomberg News. 11 Aug 2020.
Cadelago, Christopher. “Biden picks Kamala Harris as VP nominee.” Politico. 11 Aug 2020.
Chafetz, Josh. Professor of law, Georgetown University Law Center. Email to FactCheck.org. 11 Aug 2020.
Detrow, Scott. “Kamala Harris Is Seen As the Clear Front-Runner to Be Joe Biden’s Running Mate.” NPR. 22 Jun 2020.
Fichera, Angelo. “Meme Uses Deception to Accuse Harris of ‘Lies.’” FactCheck.Org. 5 Jul 2019.
U.S. Constitution. Article II. Legal Information Institute, Cornell Law School. Accessed 11 Aug 2020.
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SEE
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