John McCain: ‘I Don’t Know’ If Ted Cruz Is ‘Natural Born’ Citizen

Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz., left, and Sen. Ted Cruz, R-Texas, right, confer at the Capitol
AP Photo/J. Scott Applewhite

The 2008 GOP nominee, Sen. John McCain (R-AZ), says he doesn’t know if presidential candidate Sen. Ted Cruz (R-TX) is eligible to run for President, since he was born in Canada.

“I don’t know the answer to that,” McCain answered on KFY 1550’s Chris Merrill Show about Cruz’s ability to be president. “I know it came up in my race because I was born in Panama, but I was born in the Canal Zone which is a territory. Barry Goldwater was born in Arizona when it was a territory when he ran in 1964.”

“Yeah, it was a U.S. military base,” McCain added about himself. “That’s different from being born on foreign soil so I think there is a question. I am not a Constitutional scholar on that, but I think it’s worth looking into. I don’t think it’s illegitimate to look into it.”

“I would think so,” McCain suggested about Cruz getting on top of these issues.

He also suggested the Supreme Court may decide what “natural born” citizen really means, “It may be, that may be the case.”

McCain’s comments after the Washington Post questioned GOP frontrunner Donald Trump about Cruz’s citizenship since Cruz was born in Canada. His mother was a U.S. citizen.

Buzzfeed notes, “Republican Party. Kentucky Sen. Rand Paul added on Wednesday that he was not sure if Cruz was eligible to be president of the United States, either.”

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