Ted Cruz’s Canada Problem Continues to Hound Him

By:
Aug 21, 2013
12:22 AM

Ted Cruz. The Canadian gift that never stops giving.

In an interview with CNN’s Candy Crowley, Cruz addressed the story about how he was technically a dual citizen of the United States and Canada, and how he said that he would renounce any Canadian citizenship.

canada

Here are some of the comments Cruz made, according to the CNN post:

“If you don’t have anything to hide, there’s no big deal,” said Cruz, who was born in Canada to an American mother and a Cuban father. His full sit-down interview will air Sunday’s “State of the Union” at 9 a.m. ET and 12 p.m. ET on CNN.

“My mother was a U.S. citizen by birth – born in Wilmington, Delaware. So under U.S. law, I’m an American citizen,” he continued, explaining that he moved to Texas when he was age 4, and lived in Houston for most of his childhood.

“It’s always been my home,” he said. “And when I was a kid, my mom always told me that if I wanted to, I could affirmatively choose to claim Canadian citizenship. But I got a U.S. passport when I was in high school, I never did anything to claim citizenship, and I thought that was the end of the matter.”

The post also added this:

“Serving as a U.S. senator – I was an American by birth, and serving as a U.S. senator, I think it’s appropriate I be only an American,” he said.

But Cruz’s renunciation of his Canadian citizenship has led to more speculation about a potential run for the 2016 GOP presidential nomination. Asked during a news conference Tuesday whether he thought he was eligible, Cruz deferred to other experts.

“The Constitution has its requirements. What I’ve said on this issue – I’ll lay out the facts, where I was born and who my parents are, and I’ll leave it to others to worry about it,” he said. “I’m not going to speculate about legal consequences.”