Over at Trump World Headquarters the relentless birther attacks on Ted Cruz have this morning’s top headline. From the Los Angeles Times column they approvingly excerpt:
The principle of jus sanguinis in 1788 applied to patrilineal descent only: A person born in a foreign country was viewed as a “natural born Citizen” of his or her father’s country.
However odious it seems today, a child born of a woman whose citizenship was different from her husband’s — much rarer then than today — could not be a “natural born Citizen” of the mother’s country. That idea wasn’t even considered until 1844 in Victorian England.
The upshot is that to an originalist, someone like Cruz — born in a foreign country (and therefore not a natural born citizen of the United States by jus soli) and to a Cuban citizen father (and therefore not a natural born citizen of the United States by jus sanguinis ) — is not eligible to be president.
A few days ago Breitbart called on Donald Trump to sue Cruz over the issue and settle it once and for all.