The National Federation of Republican Assemblies (NFRA) has cited the infamous 1857 Dred Scott Supreme Court decision, which stated that enslaved people weren’t citizens, to argue that Vice President Kamala Harris is ineligible to run for president according to the Constitution.
The group also challenged the right of Vivek Ramaswamy and Nikki Haley to appear on Republican primary ballots.
The Republican group’s platform and policy document noted that “The Constitutional qualifications of Presidential eligibility” states that “No person except a natural born Citizen, shall be eligible, or a Citizen of the United States, at the time of Adoption of this Constitution, shall be eligible to the Office of President.”
The same document included former President Donald Trump’s running mate Ohio Senator JD Vance on a list of preferred candidates for vice president.
The group, which adopted the document during their last national convention held between October 13 and 15 last year, goes on to argue in the document that a natural-born citizen has to be born in the US to parents who are citizens when the child is born, pointing to the thinking of Supreme Court Justices Antonin Scalia and Clarence Thomas.
“An originalist and strict constructionist understanding of the Constitution in the Scalia and Thomas tradition, as well as precedent-setting U.S. Supreme Court cases … have found that a ‘Natural Born Citizen’ is defined as a person born on American soil of parents who are both citizens of the United States at the time of the child’s birth,” the document states.
The group then cites six cases including *Dred Scott v Sandford. *The 1857 ruling came a few years before the 1861 outbreak of the US Civil War over the issue of slavery, stating that enslaved people could not be citizens, meaning that they couldn’t expect to receive any protection from the courts or the federal government. The ruling also said that Congress did not have the power to ban slavery from a federal territory.
They’re kinda forgetting about the whole 14th Amendment thing which changes the constitution to ban slavery. An amendment is very different than a law banning slavery.
Their interpretation isn’t “originalist” or “strict” at all. It’s just what they want to say, at any given moment. History would be very different if both of your parents had to be US citizens. The president of the US is required to be a “natural born citizen”
Of the 45[a] individuals who became president, there have been eight that had at least one parent who was not born on U.S. soil.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Natural-born-citizen_clause_(United_States)
For one, Donald Trump might not be president because his mother was born in Scotland.
https://www.newyorker.com/news/news-desk/donald-trumps-immigrant-mother
For those (uninformed) Trump supporters who claim she was a citizen when little Donny was born, that’s true but her immigration process was much easier than it is today. This is it, in its entirety:
On May 2, MacLeod left Glasgow on board the RMS Transylvania arriving in New York City on May 11 (one day after her 18th birthday). She declared she intended to become a U.S. citizen and would be staying permanently in America.
Though the 1940 census form filed by Mary Anne and her husband, Fred Trump, stated that she was a naturalized citizen, she did not actually become one until March 10, 1942.[1][6][7] However, there is no evidence that she violated any immigration laws prior to her naturalization, as she frequently traveled internationally and was afterwards able to re-enter the U.S.
[She] became a naturalized citizen in March 1942
stay classy, guys
Every single member of that organization should be afraid of showing their pathetic little fucked up faces in public for the rest of their lives.
Whoa… the headline does not do the severity any justice. And yeah, the writer should just include a link to a related article with the pictures and names of the people that spouted this hateful … Garbage.
Wooooow.
Edit: Also, what does this mean since Obama already was pres?
Doesn’t mean shit. They’re flinging shit at the wall and seeing what sticks. They used the same shit on Haley and Vivek, and it didn’t stick.
Oh I’m sure they threw a monumental hissy fit about Obama’s presidency (and re-election). Didn’t mean shit then and doesn’t mean shit now, because their flagrantly racist bullshit has no validity.
I’m not even surprised by the racism in the Republican party anymore. It’s just sad how hateful these people are.
…at the time of Adoption of this Constitution…
They’re all dead so, no living person can be President?
So, in other words, the burden of proof in regard to citizenship would be on the citizen in question, and they’d have to show at which point in their genealogical history both parents were citizens and had a child? Sounds totally not messy at all
Holy shit, these assholes are desperate and batshit crazy
George Washington would have been ineligible
Not like that I guess (he’s white and also its unthinkable the guy who like helped found USAmerica couldn’t be president)
When in doubt, double down on the racism too.
If there was any doubt just what they are planning… This should clear it up. If you aren’t straight… Christian… And White
Your future in the US is not assor ed. The fact that you were born here, will not save you
They’re ping-ponging between “She’s not actually black” and “She’s too black”. Always a strong sign for a campaign.
She’s not actually black" and “She’s too black”.
so fascism.
they were successful in 2016 with that same shit. the maga base mainline this type of dissonance for breakfast.
in the end, maga is a pack of rabid, feral skunks and they will show up to vote - so damn close to everything they think they want.
but I think what we saw in 2020 was it. thats the totally of their vote. I don’t think there is substantive additional out there.
however, I think there is a ton more “Republicans are now creepy weird” vote out there. it just needs to show up to the polls and be able to legally vote. the biden/kamala-quake shook anyones shit up enough to get her serious public attention. the vote we need is watching now so I am cool with every rock the insane clown GOPosse gives us.
Good old GOP. It is amazing how much pathetic can be housed in one party.
I nearly spat out my drink.
