Calgary-born Ted Cruz has citizenship obstacle, says Trump

The hazy definition of “natural-born citizen” has Donald Trump attacking Republican candidate-hopeful and Calgary-born Ted Cruz in the latest election drama out of the United States.

Trump, who is currently competing against Cruz’s growing popularity in Iowa ahead of the first Republican Primaries this spring, spoke out Sunday night claiming Cruz’s eligibility for President is still unknown.

Anyone who qualifies as a natural-born citizen of the United States is eligible for presidency, however the Supreme Court has never clearly defined what a “natural-born citizen” is. According to Trump, Cruz may not be one.

“It’s a real question mark. From Ted’s standpoint and the party standpoint, he has to solve this problem because the Democrats will sue him if he’s the nominee,” he told NBC.

When asked by FOX News, Trump put the onus on the Supreme Court:

“Does natural born mean born to the land? In that case he’s not. But nobody knows what it means. And … it hasn’t gone to the Supreme Court. I speak well of Ted. I’m only saying that Ted has to get this problem solved because if he’s running against a Democrat, and they bring a lawsuit, he’s got a hell of a thing over his head.”

Cruz, now a Texas Senator, was born in Canada to a U.S. citizen mother and a Cuban father. He was born in December 1970 in Calgary while his parents worked in the oil business. During that time, Cruz’s father became a Canadian citizen but later also became a naturalized U.S. citizen in 2005. The family later moved to Texas in 1974 when Cruz was four and he renounced his Canadian citizenship in 2014.