Brandjack News

By Quentin Langley

The Hill reports that supporters of Donald Trump are mounting a legal challenge to the campaign of Ted Cruz alleging that he is not a natural born citizen of the US, as required by the Constitution. Trump, of course, was a prominent supporter of the conspiracy theory that Barack Obama was born in Kenya and not in Hawaii as his birth certificate and the birth announcements of the Honolulu Star-Advertiser both show. 

This seems an odd thing to do. There were twelve federal and numerous state actions regarding Barack Obama, and the majority were dismissed because the plaintiff lacked standing. Only one was referred to the Supreme Court, which refused to take it up without commenting on why. A few were dismissed because of lack of jurisdiction. Most, especially those made before Obama actually became president, were dismissed by the courts as frivolous. Attempts to manufacture standing after Obama became president were generally ruled as moot. 

If it was not possible for people who had suffered no particular harm as a result of Obama seeking, and then being elected to, the presidency, to sue it is impossible to bring similar actions regarding Cruz. The plaintiffs would lack standing and the case would be dismissed. This is, of course, most particularly true during the campaign. The Constitution does not prohibit anyone – naturalized citizen or even non-citizen from campaigning for the presidency, only from being president. So any action while the campaign is still underway must necessarily fail. 

So, why are supporters of Trump bringing the action against Cruz?

One possible reason is that the court cases will gain publicity for the fatuous claim that there is a sliver of doubt about Cruz's eligibility. But I am not sure it is about Canada, his place of birth, at all. It is about Cuba. Even some well-informed people who follow the news quite closely are not aware that Senator Cruz goes by his middle name. His full name appears in the suit, which lists him as Rafael Edward Cruz.

Perhaps the Trumpists are seeking to shore up Trump's support among nativists – probably a big slice of his constituency, which he doesn't want to lose to the Senator -by reminding them that Cruz has an Hispanic first name. They are trying to brandjack his campaign by getting people to call him Rafael.

H/T to Gordon Landwirth for bringing this case to my attention.