Republican Cruz rips Trump, links him to Clinton

“So it appears to be a unique qualification and most people have interpreted they had to be born in the US until recently”, Paul said.

And Donald Trump promptly ridiculed Springsteen on social media, simultaneously threatening to campaign for Romney.

Costa, who is covering the 2016 presidential race for The Washington Post, said on “The Laura Ingraham Show” that the front-runner throwdown over Cruz’s Canadian birth highlights that fact. While it’s true that Cruz was born in Canada, his mother was an American citizen at the time, and the generally accepted legal view is that if you’re born to an American – even on foreign soil – you’re considered a natural born citizen.

John Feehery, director of government affairs for a Republican communications firm, told RealClearPolitics: “I think Cruz and Trump are basically the same and will have the same impact on our viability as a Party”. Cruz said he did not “intend to respond or reciprocate”. More than a third of his own voters were also unaware, and almost a quarter of that same group said that such a detail should bar someone from serving in the nation’s highest office. Because he will either suffer a Howard Dean-like fall, or because his support is concentrated among people who are not Republicans and people who are less likely to vote. In a Republican debate last month, Trump was asked about the nuclear triad and had trouble with the explanation.

“In the case of Ted, he has to figure it out”, he said. If it’s [the nominee is] Ted, the Democrats are going to bring a lawsuit. Look, it doesn’t matter what he does. “I urge you to vote for Donald Trump because he is the one candidate who points out that we should accept immigrants who are good for America. It’s called you just don’t know”.

Running neck and neck with Cruz in Iowa, Trump continues to fuel doubts about whether the senator’s Canadian birth disqualifies him. Trump also held a two-point lead over Cruz in a Quinnipiac University survey of the state released Monday.

Read: The end of the Trump-Cruz bromance? But Iowa has been tougher for him as recent polls have found Cruz ahead. Retired neurosurgeon Ben Carson was in fourth at 8%, while former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush (R) was in fifth place at 6%. In response to a clip of Clinton saying Trump was “a Democrat before he was a Republican”, Cruz said, “Well, I would say, Hillary would know well how to identify Democrats”.