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Trump Encourages Racist Conspiracy Theory About Kamala Harris

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Trump Encourages Racist Conspiracy Theory About Kamala Harris

merlin_175656852_8632d2ae-5aab-44b3-9e1c-49a4c90ea51e-mediumThreeByTwo440.jpg

8/13/20
WASHINGTON — President Trump on Thursday encouraged a racist conspiracy theory that is rampant among some of his followers: that Senator Kamala Harris, the presumptive Democratic vice-presidential nominee born in California, was not eligible for the vice presidency or presidency because her parents were immigrants. That assertion is false. Ms. Harris is eligible to serve. Mr. Trump, speaking to reporters on Thursday, nevertheless pushed forward with the attack, reminiscent of the lie he perpetrated for years that President Barack Obama was born in Kenya. “I heard it today that she doesn’t meet the requirements,” Mr. Trump said of Ms. Harris. “I have no idea if that’s right,” he added. “I would have thought, I would have assumed, that the Democrats would have checked that out before she gets chosen to run for vice president.” Mr. Trump appeared to be referring to a widely discredited op-ed article published in Newsweek by John C. Eastman, a conservative lawyer who has long argued that the United States Constitution does not grant birthright citizenship. Ms. Harris, the daughter of Jamaican and Indian immigrants, was born in 1964 in Oakland, Calif., several years after her parents arrived in the United States.

But Mr. Trump was in effect revisiting an old tactic: spreading a race-based and anti-immigrant crusade he began nearly a decade ago, when he began sowing distrust in the background of Mr. Obama, who was born in Hawaii. This time, Mr. Trump has legions of followers who have been spreading similar theories about Ms. Harris. In the hours after Joseph R. Biden Jr. announced Ms. Harris as his running mate, a new crop of memes and conspiracy website postings began proliferating online, suggesting that Ms. Harris was an “anchor baby,” a disparaging term for a child born in the United States to immigrants. Constitutional law scholars say that the immigration status of Ms. Harris’s parents at the time of her birth is irrelevant because under the Constitution, anyone born in the United States automatically acquires citizenship. The 14th Amendment makes it clear: “All persons born or naturalized in the United States, and subject to the jurisdiction thereof, are citizens of the United States and of the State wherein they reside.”

As is obvious and anticipated, Birtherism conspiracy theory is still alive and thriving in the racist mind of Donald Trump and his ilk.
 
Trump Encourages Racist Conspiracy Theory About Kamala Harris

merlin_175656852_8632d2ae-5aab-44b3-9e1c-49a4c90ea51e-mediumThreeByTwo440.jpg



As is obvious and anticipated, Birtherism conspiracy theory is still alive and thriving in the racist mind of Donald Trump and his ilk.

Shots in the dark. That is what we are going to see from Trump, his family, and his minions. Honor and dignity have never been attributed to Trump and family, we have no reason to expect it now or in the future.

This nation was once honorable. Even with our issues we have had reason to be proud of our country. Most Americans miss that.

Authoritarians are not leaders. They are desperate fools with no personal integrity.
 
Trump Encourages Racist Conspiracy Theory About Kamala Harris

merlin_175656852_8632d2ae-5aab-44b3-9e1c-49a4c90ea51e-mediumThreeByTwo440.jpg



As is obvious and anticipated, Birtherism conspiracy theory is still alive and thriving in the racist mind of Donald Trump and his ilk.

The question raised was whether Harris's parents, who were in fact NOT immigrants when she was born but instead both in the USA on a student visa, were "subject to the jurisdiction" of the USA when she was born.
Court precedence indicates that she was and is thus a citizen.
See-- there is a better way of responding to this allegation rather than lazily saying anyone who opposes your candidate is a racist.
 
I actually will attempt to move to Canada or Mexico if Trump wins another four; if so, America will be over anyway....

I agree. Our Republic will be finished with four more years of Trumpism.
 
Settled law for almost 125 years. Anyone brandishing this theory is too ignorant to debate with.
 
How is that racist?
 
I see that every minority Presidential and Vice Presidential candidate is going to have to prove to white supremacists that they're really Americans.

This is just a repackaged version of "go back to your country."
 
It's a repackaged trumpism "they don't look like indians to me". Birtherism is a variety of racism and Trump has exhibited it since the early 90's if not before.

He has followers who join right in.
 
It's a repackaged trumpism "they don't look like indians to me". Birtherism is a variety of racism and Trump has exhibited it since the early 90's if not before.

He has followers who join right in.

Kindred spirits. Trump's racism attracts them like flies to a dung heap.
 
At times President Stable Genius, whose mother was born in Scotland, has claimed that his father was born in Germany. If true, then by Trump's own definition he, himself, is not qualified to be president. :shock:

... and he would be right







just not on the basis of birth
 
Reminds me of the racist conspiracy theory the NYT encouraged about McCain...

A Citizen, but ‘Natural Born’? McCain’s Eligibility to Be President Is Disputed by Professor - The New York Times

:donkeyfla:donkeyfla:donkeyfla

That's not even close to the same thing. The article about McCain isn't a conspiracy theory at all wtf are you even talking about.

There's an obvious question of eligibility with regards to McCain because he was undeniably born in the Panama Canal Zone - nobody disputes the location of his birth. There's a legitimate legal question there. That's completely different than Trump claiming Obama was born in Kenya, which is obviously completely unfounded and playing to his racist base.
 
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The question raised was whether Harris's parents, who were in fact NOT immigrants when she was born but instead both in the USA on a student visa, were "subject to the jurisdiction" of the USA when she was born.
Court precedence indicates that she was and is thus a citizen.
See-- there is a better way of responding to this allegation rather than lazily saying anyone who opposes your candidate is a racist.

So, explain how a crackpot right wing lawyer, with a history of promoting discredited notions about citizenship, is being cited by Trump, who repeats his claims.

Explain why Trumpsters grabbed on to it with such obvious enthusiasm.

Even when Obama left office, polls still showed that a substantial plurality of registered Republicans and independents still believed the birtherism myth.

And Trump has never let an opportunity go by without race baiting. He’s got it turned up to twelve now. And so does his base.

On Fox, there is an almost constant torrent of it, particularly if it can be disguised behind the usual tropes (everyone is fleeing the city, etc). It’s in the stories, and especially in the soto vouche comments from the news models.
 
The question raised was whether Harris's parents, who were in fact NOT immigrants when she was born but instead both in the USA on a student visa, were "subject to the jurisdiction" of the USA when she was born.
Court precedence indicates that she was and is thus a citizen.
See-- there is a better way of responding to this allegation rather than lazily saying anyone who opposes your candidate is a racist.
No, sorry, it's just racist BS.

This exact issue was explicitly settled over 120 years ago with United States vs Wong Kim Ark.

Harris was on US soil when she was born. That makes her a natural born citizen, and subject to the jurisdiction of the United States.

The only exception is if the parents are foreign diplomats who have diplomatic immunity, as they are not, in fact, under the jurisdiction of the US. To wit: Harris' mother was still a citizen of India; however, if she committed a crime while in the US (with or without a visa), she would be tried in Oakland according to US law, because she would be subject to the jurisdiction of the US. (That's why a foreign national can be tried, convicted, and serve time before being deported.) She cannot unilaterally declare "I am a citizen of India, therefore US laws do not apply to me." In contrast, if Harris' mother was a senior diplomat for India with immunity, and she committed a crime in Oakland, she is not subject to the jurisdiction of the United States. She can only be prosecuted in the US if her home nation waives her immunity.

People are entitled to dislike or criticize jus soli. Opposing Harris' record or preferred policies is not racist. That's not what is happening with this line of attack.

Instead, they are completely disregarding or contradicting the Constitution, originalist/textualist methods of Constitutional interpretation consistently demanded by the right, over a century of jurisprudence, decades of laws, and basic common sense to proclaim "Harris is not a US citizen." I.e. it is obvious this is an ad hoc excuse to oppose Harris not based on her abilities, but on the color of her skin. And obvious this is not the first time that right-wing xenophobes have played this game with a person who has brown skin.

It is really, really hard to see any motive other than racism for this line of attack.
 
Reminds me of the racist conspiracy theory the NYT encouraged about McCain...
:roll:

The NYT didn't "encourage" anything. They reported on a law professor's views on a lawsuit about McCain's eligibility, as well as legal opinions to the contrary.

The law prof actually has a point: The US has always played fast and loose with its territories, trying to have it both ways -- both subject to and not subject to US jurisdiction -- depending on what is convenient for the US. In this case, Congress made people born in the Panama Canal Zone citizens by statute, which might fly as not being "natural." That said, and as the article pointed out, there were solid legal arguments in favor of McCain's eligibility.

For some strange reason, this objection never wound up taking off. I may have missed it, but I don't recall Obama, Clinton, Huckabee, Romney, Paul, Fox News etc suggesting McCain should be ineligible because of where he was born.

For some strange reason, Republican lawyers defended McCain in the lawsuit over this issue.

Fun fact! One of the people who sued McCain over his eligibility (Philip Berg) also sued Obama over his eligiblity in 2008, and tried to stop electors for Bush/Cheney. I.e. the guy is obviously a crank.

In other words, this case is illustrative not because of how they are similar, but how they are different. Rather than brushing this off as a crackpot objection, Trump and Fox and their followers are all in.

If they drop this in a few days, then I'd agree that the two cases are more alike than different. However, I seriously doubt this will die any time soon.
 
:roll:

The NYT didn't "encourage" anything. They reported on a law professor's views on a lawsuit about McCain's eligibility, as well as legal opinions to the contrary.

The law prof actually has a point: The US has always played fast and loose with its territories, trying to have it both ways -- both subject to and not subject to US jurisdiction -- depending on what is convenient for the US. In this case, Congress made people born in the Panama Canal Zone citizens by statute, which might fly as not being "natural." That said, and as the article pointed out, there were solid legal arguments in favor of McCain's eligibility.

For some strange reason, this objection never wound up taking off. I may have missed it, but I don't recall Obama, Clinton, Huckabee, Romney, Paul, Fox News etc suggesting McCain should be ineligible because of where he was born.

For some strange reason, Republican lawyers defended McCain in the lawsuit over this issue.

Fun fact! One of the people who sued McCain over his eligibility (Philip Berg) also sued Obama over his eligiblity in 2008, and tried to stop electors for Bush/Cheney. I.e. the guy is obviously a crank.

In other words, this case is illustrative not because of how they are similar, but how they are different. Rather than brushing this off as a crackpot objection, Trump and Fox and their followers are all in.

If they drop this in a few days, then I'd agree that the two cases are more alike than different. However, I seriously doubt this will die any time soon.

And Trump commented upon an article which made a similar claim with regards to Harris.

And it can be refuted on legal grounds.

In other words, people can actually question Harris's eligibility, and be challenged on that view, WITHOUT a knee jerk reaction of racism.
 
This thread isn't about John McCain.

It is about Trump and his ilk promoting racism under the guise of Trumps Birtherism smears.

This is settled law. The US Constitution and US law consider anyone born on US soil a US citizen.

Period. There is nothing to debate.
 
The question raised was whether Harris's parents, who were in fact NOT immigrants when she was born but instead both in the USA on a student visa, were "subject to the jurisdiction" of the USA when she was born.
Court precedence indicates that she was and is thus a citizen.
See-- there is a better way of responding to this allegation rather than lazily saying anyone who opposes your candidate is a racist.

They were immigrants who came to the US from 3rd world entities to get theirs.
Harris may be eligible for VP as she was born here but it's obvious that she was
an 'anchor baby'
 
And Trump commented upon an article which made a similar claim with regards to Harris.
lol, ok

Again: I don't recall Obama, Clinton, Huckabee, Romney, Paul, Fox News etc "commenting on an article" about McCain's eligibility.

Again: We're not new at this. We've seen Trump pull this crap before. He is not just "commenting on an article," he's fumbling for ways to push the same type of racist, xenophobic, white grievance buttons like he did against Obama.


In other words, people can actually question Harris's eligibility, and be challenged on that view, WITHOUT a knee jerk reaction of racism.
No, they can't. Because the only way to question Harris' eligibility is to ignore 120+ years of birthright citizenship, settled jurisprudence, the validity of Originalism or Textualism as constitutional interpretation methods, and so on. I.e. you have to be so racist and xenophobic that you're willing to rip up the Constitution and ignore the law.
 
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