Sen. Orrin Hatch (R-UT) — Republicans’ most senior senator and the chamber’s president pro tem — said he believed Sen. Ted Cruz (R-TX) is eligible to be president, but that the Supreme Court “in this raucous day and age” might disagree.
“Well, I admit, that issue hasn’t been decided by the Supreme Court,” Hatch said on CNN Wednesday, when asked about Donald Trump’s threats to sue Cruz over whether his birth in Canada disqualified him for the presidency.
“But my personal belief is that there have been too many people who have run for president who were born outside of the nation, especially, you know, Senator McCain is a good illustration of that,” Hatch continued. “And — but Cruz was born to an American mother, therefore had a right to an American citizenship. He’s renounced his citizenship in Canada.”
Many legal scholars have argued that the term “natural born citizen” in the Constitution’s requirements for U.S. presidents refers to those who were citizens at the time of their birth, as Cruz was when he was born to an American mother in Canada.
However, some constitutional experts have claimed that is still an unsettled matter and it could only apply to those born inside the United States. Trump has raised the issue among voters as his rivalry with Cruz has become more heated. In a statement Wednesday, Trump said that “time will tell” whether he ultimately brings a lawsuit.
“I think it’s a pretty tough case to try and bring,” Hatch said on CNN. “But I can’t say that in this raucous day and age that the Supreme Court might agree with me. They may think otherwise.”
