Former President Donald Trump, who is leading in the US Republican presidential primary, is spreading false information about the qualifications of former US Ambassador to the UN Nikki Haley, the ‘chaser’. This is interpreted as an intention to rally supporters with strong anti-immigration tendencies by highlighting the fact that former Ambassador Haley is a second-generation Indian immigrant, and also to lower the approval ratings of her rivals.
On the 9th, former President Trump shared a false post from the right-wing website ‘Gateway Pundit’ on the social media ‘Truth Social’. This post claims that former Ambassador Haley is also ineligible to run for president because her Indian parents were not U.S. citizens when she was born in Bamburgh, South Carolina in 1972.
It is true that her parents acquired U.S. citizenship after their daughter’s birth. However, it is clearly false information that former Ambassador Haley is not eligible to run. The U.S. Constitution stipulates that a person can become a presidential candidate if he or she is a citizen, is over 35 years old, and has lived in the U.S. for at least 14 years. According to the principle of territorialism in the United States, all children born in the United States have U.S. citizenship, regardless of the nationality of their parents. Of course, former Ambassador Haley was also a U.S. citizen by birth.
Former President Trump often raised issues about his rival’s birthplace in the past. During the 2016 Republican presidential primary, a similar attack was made against Texas Senator Ted Cruz. Congressman Cruz’s birthplace is Canada, but both of his parents are U.S. citizens, so Congressman Cruz was also a U.S. citizen from birth. There were no disqualifications in his eligibility to run for president.
Former New Jersey Governor Chris Christie, another Republican primary candidate and a strong anti-Trump candidate, resigned on the 9th. There is an analysis that there is a high possibility that former Governor Christie’s support votes will shift toward former Ambassador Haley.
Source: Donga
Mark Jones is a world traveler and journalist for News Rebeat. With a curious mind and a love of adventure, Mark brings a unique perspective to the latest global events and provides in-depth and thought-provoking coverage of the world at large.