Sen. John McCain
John Sidney McCainJuan Williams: Time for boldness from Biden Democrats lead in three battleground Senate races: poll Republican Scott Taylor wins Virginia primary, to face Elaine Luria in rematch MORE (R-Ariz.) on Wednesday questioned Ted Cruz
Rafael (Ted) Edward CruzTrump administration grants funding extension for Texas testing sites Hillicon Valley: Democrats introduce bill banning federal government use of facial recognition tech | House lawmakers roll out legislation to establish national cyber director | Top federal IT official to step down GOP lawmakers join social media app billed as alternative to Big Tech MORE's eligibility to be president, piling on to recent attacks over the Texas senator’s citizenship.
John Sidney McCainJuan Williams: Time for boldness from Biden Democrats lead in three battleground Senate races: poll Republican Scott Taylor wins Virginia primary, to face Elaine Luria in rematch MORE (R-Ariz.) on Wednesday questioned Ted CruzRafael (Ted) Edward CruzTrump administration grants funding extension for Texas testing sites Hillicon Valley: Democrats introduce bill banning federal government use of facial recognition tech | House lawmakers roll out legislation to establish national cyber director | Top federal IT official to step down GOP lawmakers join social media app billed as alternative to Big Tech MORE's eligibility to be president, piling on to recent attacks over the Texas senator’s citizenship.“I don’t know the answer to that,” McCain said of the GOP candidate's eligibility in a radio interview on “The Chris Merrill Show” in Arizona, which was reported by BuzzFeed.
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“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.”
McCain, the 2008 GOP nominee, faced similar skepticism while he was running for president, but McCain noted that there are differences between his and Cruz’s birthplaces.
The Arizona senator was born on a U.S. military base. Cruz was born in Canada, but his mother was a U.S. citizen.
“Yeah, it was a U.S. military base,” McCain said. “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.”
The Constitution says that in order to run for president, one must be a "natural born citizen" — long regarded as anyone born to a U.S. citizen, regardless of where that person is born.
McCain was weighing in on recent questions from GOP presidential front-runner Donald Trump
Donald John Trump Trump responds to calls to tear down monuments with creation of 'National Garden' of statues Trump: Children are taught in school to 'hate their own country' Trump accuses those tearing down statues of wanting to 'overthrow the American Revolution' MORE about whether Cruz is a natural born citizen.
Donald John Trump Trump responds to calls to tear down monuments with creation of 'National Garden' of statues Trump: Children are taught in school to 'hate their own country' Trump accuses those tearing down statues of wanting to 'overthrow the American Revolution' MORE about whether Cruz is a natural born citizen.“You go to federal court, you ask for a declaratory judgment. Once the court rules, you have your decision,” Trump said in a Wednesday interview with CNN. “That will clear it all up."
Cruz is pushing back on claims over his citizenship, saying he never owned a Canadian passport.
"Of course not," Cruz told CNN earlier Wednesday. "Yes, I'm sure. The media, with all due respect, love to engage in silly sideshows. We need to focus on what matters."
