While insisting he has no beef with Canada, the land of his birth, Sen. Ted Cruz announced his plans Tuesday to rip up his Canadian citizenship in order to help quell the growing controversy over whether he is eligible to run for president.
The Dallas Morning News reported that the Texas Republican said he was extremely proud to be an American and that he had decided to pick sides after the birth certificate he released Monday showed that he had been born in 1970 to an American-born mother in Alberta, making him a citizen of both countries.
“Assuming that is true, then sure, I will renounce any Canadian citizenship,” Mr. Cruz said in the statement. “Nothing against Canada, but I’m an American by birth and as a U.S. senator, I believe I should be only an American.”
The decision to release the birth certificate was largely seen as an attempt to defuse any potential political land mines that could get in his way should he chose to run for president in 2016.
• Seth McLaughlin can be reached at smclaughlin@washingtontimes.com.
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