Businessman Donald Trump raised the possibility of pursuing legal action against Sen. Ted Cruz over his eligibility to be president, potentially upping the stakes in their escalating feud ahead of next week’s GOP presidential primary in South Carolina.
Mr. Trump has previously called on Mr. Cruz to pursue a declaratory judgement on whether he can run for president after being born in Canada to an American born mother and Cuban-born father, arguing the issue has not been settled. And on Friday, he put Mr. Cruz on notice that he might do it himself.
“If @TedCruz doesn’t clean up his act, stop cheating, & doing negative ads, I have standing to sue him for not being a natural born citizen,” Mr. Trump said via Twitter Friday.
Mr. Cruz has dismissed the charge that he is not a natural born citizen.
The tweet comes after Mr. Cruz started running an ad in South Carolina attacking Mr. Trump over his support of eminent domain, accusing the New York billionaire of using it for personal gain.
Mr. Trump also pushed back against the negative ads running against him in South Carolina.
“Millions of $’s of false ads, paid for by lobbyists-special interests of cheater @SenTedCruz and sleepy @JebBush, are now running in S.C.,” he tweeted.
• Seth McLaughlin can be reached at smclaughlin@washingtontimes.com.
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