Newsweek slammed after editorial column starts a new birther conspiracy about Kamala Harris
S E E D E D C O N T E N T
August 12, 2020
By
Sarah K. Burris
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Newsweek is being attacked after they ran an opinion column by John Eastman, a law professor at Chapman University. "Some Questions for Kamala Harris About Eligibility," was the headline.
The opening of the story already speculates that Harris is somehow ineligible for the position because she's also somehow ineligible to be president.
"The fact that Senator Kamala Harris has just been named the vice presidential running mate for presumptive Democratic presidential nominee Joe Biden has some questioning her eligibility for the position," said the Chapman University professor. "The 12th Amendment provides that 'no person constitutionally ineligible to the office of President shall be eligible to that of Vice-President of the United States.' And Article II of the Constitution specifies that '[n]o person except a natural born citizen…shall be eligible to the office of President.' Her father was (and is) a Jamaican national, her mother was from India, and neither was a naturalized U.S. citizen at the time of Harris' birth in 1964. That, according to these commentators, makes her not a 'natural born citizen'—and therefore ineligible for the office of the president and, hence, ineligible for the office of the vice president."
The absurd claim would have prevented six presidents from taking office: Barack Obama, Andrew Jackson, James Buchanan, Chester A. Arthur, Woodrow Wilson, and Herbert Hoover. Trump's mother was also an immigrant that wasn't a naturalized citizen.
It's a campaign attempt that is remarkably similar to the conspiracy theories about former President Obama that President Donald Trump perpetuated over the years.
Harris was born in Oakland, California, so it's unclear if Trump will be asking for her birth certificate.
You can see some of the attacks below:
Bigots like this come out from under rocks when bigots like @realDonaldTrump are President. https://t.co/bRMsxAeRAg
— Mark Pocan (@MarkPocan) August 12, 2020
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It begins!
Reminder: Trump's mom was an immigrant…wonder why that didn't bother ole "Dr" Eastman.https://t.co/skomNOQ0kg
— Chris Fettweis (@cjfettweis) August 12, 2020
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Totally weird how these questions only get raised when it is a person of color on the ballot. https://t.co/fM8lToebc1
— Matt A Lap (@mattalap) August 12, 2020
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And so it begins: Is the lady with the dark skin really an American?https://t.co/6C1rtjoD6b
— Dr. "Despa"-Szto (@courtneyszto) August 12, 2020
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Less than 24-hourshttps://t.co/uGVxO9Buzahttps://t.co/DwdtKRl2AM
— Wear A Mask (@DaffodilSwain) August 12, 2020
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How long before Trump parrots the racist birtherism 2.0 in this story? https://t.co/4L4YM52m0G
— Sawyer Hackett (@SawyerHackett) August 12, 2020
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He got exactly one thing right: "I have no doubt that this significant [sic] challenge to Harris' constitutional eligibility to the second-highest office in the land will be dismissed out of hand as so much antiquated constitutional tripe." https://t.co/PvAhtJWWF8
— Andrew Lazarus, sheltered-at-home (@AndrewLazarus4) August 12, 2020
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And the Birtherism begins…
RT @DrJohnEastman: Is Kamala Harris eligible for the office of Vice President? Here's my article, published by Newsweek, exploring the issues. Short answer: It depends! https://t.co/PQMuTaJ9vC
— Teresa (@TeresaKopec) August 12, 2020
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Expect Trump to say --- "some people, very fine, incredible, very intelligent people, are saying she's not an American" ----- before long.
She is a natural born citizen alright, but what should concern people is her lack of fitness for the job of president.
The question I always ask whenever this side issue is raised - Shouldn't the DNC have verified Harris birth qualification as soon as Biden says I'm picking Harris? If the two parties would simply do that, the voters wouldn't be burdened with such a non-story, nor would anyone be making it a vicious race issue. Harris is black, so therefore it was a "racist" thing, which then makes the whole thing self serving for the Biden campaign.
One more question: How many Americans might be aware of this "opinion column?"
... compared to who, birther?
Why did you call him that? He didn't question her citizenship?
Why do they allow you to do that?
[deleted] I was referring to his past public statements.
bwah ha ha, that didn't take long...
Next we will hear she was the mastermind behind the "Benghazi coverup".
There's no question she was born in the US. Per Newsweek:
Some of our readers have reacted strongly to the op-ed we published by Dr. John Eastman, assuming it to be an attempt to ignite a racist conspiracy theory around Kamala Harris' candidac y. Dr. Eastman was focusing on a long-standing, somewhat arcane legal debate about the precise meaning of the phrase "subject to the jurisdiction thereof" in the Citizenship Clause of the 14th Amendment. His essay has no connection whatsoever to so-called "birther-ism, " the racist 2008 conspiracy theory aimed at delegitimizing then-candidate Barack Obama by claiming, baselessly, that he was born not in Hawaii but in Kenya....
On the contrary, leading law schools have long entertained debates between competing scholars about the original public meaning of the Citizenship Clause. The issue discussed in these debates, and contested by Dr. Eastman, is whether birthright citizenship ( jus soli, birth by soil), as opposed to merely citizenship by parentage ( jus sanguinis , that is, citizenship by citizenship of one's parents at time of birth), is textually mandated. Again, scholars can, and do, disagree on this point. "
It's amazing that a debate about the Constitution is now off limits to the know nothings who scream racism as soon as they read something they clearly don't understand.
Those who want to understand what's actually been said should read the primer by Newsweek spelling it out in simple terms and then the actual op-ed where the argument is more fully developed. Skip "rawstory" if you can handle critical thinking.
I havent read the entire original op-ed, but I probably will.
Its not a question of whether this lawyer has the right to write an op-ed about Harris "eligibility" , its more a question of why would he?
Eastman is a right wing figure. He heads a section of the Claremont Institute, a right wing/conservative think tank. He also ran in an election that Harris eventually won.
It is no tremendous leap of logic to conclude Eastman is seeding the waters for later accusations from the more dim witted types in his party that Harris is not a "real" American.
So you have a problem with that? This is politics JR, all's fair, remember?
IF he had invented this argument when Harris was nominated you might have a point. But this debate has been taking place for decades, well before Harris become a public figure, and is an open question until the Supreme Court rules on it.
There's no conspiracy here. Everyone agrees with the facts. It's a just a legal question of how the Constitution applies to those facts.
Again, you are ignoring the WHY. This is not going to end with Harris either dropping off the ticket, or in a court declaring her ineligible. So why did Eastman do it? Obviously to sow the seeds for attacks on Harris.
So in your view, liberal outlets like the Washington Post, Gaurdian etc were racists for suggesting Ted Cruz didn't qualify to be President
https:// www.vox.com/explainers/2016/1/14/10772734/is-ted-cruz-citizen
Actually, there is plenty of disagreement on the facts. Most legal scholars AND the SCOTUS disagree with Eastman's interpretation of the Slaughterhouse cases and US v. Wong Kim Ark. One need only READ those opinions for themselves to understand that Eastman is misrepresenting them.
Was there some birther conspiracy against Cruz to be ginned up? You are completely missing the point.
Democrats have no history of birtherism, your side does.
WaPo is paywalled.
Your Guardian link actually agrees with your statement that the question is 'unsettled' so what's your issue with it?
Your Vox link article is much like the seed, an opinion on the interpretation of the Citizenship Clause, so again, what's your issue with it?
I don't have an issue with it. It's an open question, fitting for debate. That's my point.
If Cruz's eligibility (and McCain's and George Romney's before him) could be discussed in liberal outlets without people shrieking racism, than Harris's eligibility can be as well.
You know that those men are all white right Sean?
why would he?
He also ran in an election that Harris eventually won. - That's why. Pure sour grapes.
It's also interesting that during that campaign, Eastman didn't bring up the allegation that Harris was ineligible to be a Senator.
Oh and BTW, the GOP have tried to get Eastman on Trump's list for the SCOTUS. YIKES!
No prolonged cry from the right when Ted Cruz was in the running.
Born in Canada - yes Canada.
Father was Cuban and was not, at the time of Teddy's birth, a US citizen.
Only his mother was a US citizen.
Sauce ... geese ... etc.
Whoops! Here's an article by a conservative scholar in the Washington Post claiming Cruz isn't eligible
https://https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/ted-cruz-is-not-eligible-to-be-president/2016/01/12/1484a7d0-b7af-11e5-99f3-184bc379b12d_story.html/
I can't catch the author of that article before the lock it behind a pay wall. Is it Akhil Reed Amar?
Here's the Amar article - it a pro-Cruz.
I can't access your link but I know it to be accurate.
Can't remember the man's name at the moment - but respected in his field.
Most scholars weighed in that Cruz was eligible with a few hedging their bets who that said it was not settled law.
I still stand by my statement that except for Trump, Republican politicians in general did not show the same interest for Cruz's birthplace as they showed for Obama's.
Yes, I follow Amar. Still waiting for Sean to cite the author of his link.