Meadows Says Kamala Harris Eligible For Vice Presidency After Trump Promotes Racist Claim
White House chief of staff Mark Meadows on Sunday conceded that Sen. Kamala Harris (D-Calif.) is eligible to serve as vice president, rejecting a racist conspiracy theory promoted by President Donald Trump.
CNN’s Jake Tapper asked Meadows on “State of the Union” about the “discredited lie” against Harris, whom presumptive Democratic presidential nominee Joe Biden announced as his running mate last week.
“I kind of can’t believe I even have to ask you this, but just a simple yes or no: Do you accept that fact ― and it is a fact ― that Sen. Kamala Harris is eligible to be vice president?” Tapper asked.
“Sure,” Meadows responded, before attacking Harris’ “liberal ideas” and the “policies born out of California that would take root” if she were to become vice president.
White House chief of staff Mark Meadows says he accepts that Sen. Kamala Harris is eligible to be vice president. #CNNSOTUpic.twitter.com/kLcjgP4lYi
— State of the Union (@CNNSotu) August 16, 2020
The racist and false claim that Harris, the daughter of Jamaican and Indian immigrants, is ineligible for the vice presidency was the subject of an op-ed by lawyer John Eastman posted Wednesday by Newsweek.
Eastman suggested that Harris can’t be vice president because her parents were not naturalized citizens at the time of her birth. (Harris was born in California.) This argument is false.
The Constitution says that only “a natural-born citizen, or a citizen of the United States,” shall be eligible to serve as president or vice president. The 14th Amendment says that anyone born or naturalized in the U.S. is a U.S. citizen.
Nonetheless, some of Trump’s allies have seized on the theory. Jenna Ellis, a legal adviser to the Trump campaign, retweeted Eastman’s op-ed on Thursday.
Trump told reporters at a press briefing Thursday that he heard Harris “doesn’t meet the requirements” to be president.
“I have no idea if that’s right,” he added....
