Cruz ‘Ally’ Accuses Rand Paul Team of Pushing Birther Issue in Iowa
The Washington Examiner reported Tuesday morning of rumors that a “whisper campaign” has begun in Iowa questioning the eligibility of Texas Senator Ted Cruz to be president due to his Canadian birth, with one person blaming Rand Paul’s people for starting it.
Jamie Johnson, Rick Santorum’s 2012 coalition director and now a Cruz “ally,” made the accusation. “They’re scared and they now keep bringing up the eligibility issue,” Johnson said of Paul’s people. “They are hitting the eligibility issue hard. They’re using third-party sources, though; they don’t want it tracked back to Campaign for Liberty.”
The Examiner notes that Johnson provided only anecdotal evidence of the rumor. ”How do I know?” he said. “Because I talk with them. I look at their Facebook posts and their Twitter [feeds].”
RELATED: Ted Cruz: Media ‘Tizzy’ Over Birth Certificate Must Mean I’m ‘Doing Something Right’
Paul and Cruz have made separate trips to Iowa recently, a sign of presidential ambitions. On Sunday, Cruz, who was born in Calgary to an American mother, released his birth certificate to the Dallas Morning News to quell minor but persistent birther chatter over whether he was eligible to be president, a similar campaign to one that plagued President Barack Obama.
“If you’re going to call yourself a true constitutionalist, well, it’s right there in the Constitution,” said Jeff Shipley, Campaign for Liberty’s legislative director. “Obviously, that’s something Mr. Cruz needs to address, that he’s eligible for the office…With the legal documents, it’s all language, and he’s a very competent lawyer, so I’m sure he can get around it.”
Shipley didn’t think the eligibility issue would be a major one. “There probably are some Senator Paul supporters that feel threatened by Senator Cruz, and they may be saying some things, but I think that’s just kind of petty nonsense,” he said.
Read the full article HERE.
[h/t Washington Examiner]
