This convoluted birther garbage is founded in a thoroughly debunked legal "theory" that the child of an immigrant does not qualify to be a "natural born citizen" and is thus ineligible for the presidency even if the candidate was born in the United States. As you likely know, Obama was born in Hawaii to an American mother and a Kenyan father, and he thus fully satisfied the constitutional requirements.
The irony to all this, of course, is that Trump was also born to an immigrant married to an American. But the subliminal inference here is different because Trump is white.
Flash forward to this week. Democratic presidential nominee Joe Biden announced he had selected California Senator Kamala Harris to be his vice presidential running mate. The mixed-race California-born Harris is the daughter of parents born in India and Jamaica.
And it took less than twenty-four hours for the Trump campaign to trot out birther claims about her, too (details here). As to whether Harris is eligible, in an interview with ABC, the Trump campaign's legal advisor claimed it was "an open question, and one I think Harris should answer so the American people know for sure she is eligible."
Shortly thereafter, Trump himself was peddling the same bullshit (details here). He said he had heard "rumors" Harris does not meet the constitutional requirement to serve and that such rumors were "very serious."
This will undoubtedly not be the last racist claim or attack Trump will make against Harris. And his senior campaign staff and surrogates will trot out this garbage on a regular basis, too.
Hopefully, a majority of Americans will not only greet this trash with disbelief but also with disgust. And hopefully it will lose him a lot more votes than it will win him.
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