Ohio Gov. John Kasich says he’s sure Sen. Ted Cruz is a “natural born citizen” of the United States — and that he’s really not interested in talking about the issue.
“I’m sure that he is, and I don’t really care,” Mr. Kasich said when asked if Mr. Cruz is a “natural born citizen” of the United States.
“We [have] so many problems — we got people whose wages have been frozen, you got income inequality, you got people who live in the shadows with mental illness or drug addiction who’ve been left behind,” Mr. Kasich said in an interview that aired Tuesday on CNN’s “New Day.”
“We got to help our minority community to rise, and I don’t spend my time talking about whether somebody’s … qualified to be president or not,” he said. “I got too many other things to talk about. And so I’m really not interested. I’ve got too much I want to say positively to get America moving again to spend my time talking about where the heck Ted Cruz was born. I’m not interested.”
Businessman Donald Trump, who is jockeying with Mr. Cruz for front-runner status in Iowa in the race for the 2016 GOP presidential nomination, has said Mr. Cruz should go to court and clear up his citizenship status to head off any Democratic lawsuits should the Texas Republican secure the party’s nomination.
Mr. Cruz, who was born in Canada but whose mother is a U.S. citizen, renounced his Canadian citizenship in 2014 and has said the legal issue over whether he is a “natural born citizen” and therefore eligible to be president is clear and straightforward.
Mr. Kasich was tied for second place in New Hampshire with Mr. Cruz, behind Mr. Trump, in a Monmouth University poll released Monday, and said a good performance in the Granite State could propel him to the 2016 GOP presidential nomination.
“I don’t think we’re going to really know who wins New Hampshire until election night, but if I win that, I’m going to predict to you … if I do well, [if] I’m a story out of New Hampshire, a big story, I believe I’ll be the nominee,” Mr. Kasich said.
• David Sherfinski can be reached at dsherfinski@washingtontimes.com.
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