Trump ‘birther’ arguments find new target in rival Nikki Haley as former president promotes idea she isn’t eligible for presidency as child of immigrants (despite her birth in the US)
- Donald Trump shared a post on Truth Social on Tuesday claiming that Nikki Haley is ineligible to run for president because her parents are immigrants
- Under the Constitution, anyone born in the United States – like them – is eligible to become president, regardless of where their parents were born
- Trump famously promoted the theory that Barack Obama was ineligible, falsely claiming he was born in Kenya instead of Hawaii.
Donald Trump promoted a new “birther” lie on Tuesday, suggesting that Nikki Haley is ineligible to become president because her parents are immigrants.
Under the U.S. Constitution, anyone born in the United States can be elected president, even if their parents are immigrants. Haley, 51, was born in Bamberg, South Carolina, to parents who emigrated from India.
But Trump – who famously claimed that Barack Obama was born in Kenya, rather than Hawaii – posted on his social media saying she could not become president.
“Analysis: Lawyer Claims U.S. Constitution Disqualifies Nikki Haley from Presidential or Vice Presidential Candidacy,” according to the post from conservative news site The Gateway Pundit.
The Gateway Pundit referred to claims made by Paul Ingrassia, a law clerk who graduated from law school in 2022 and describes himself on X as a “constitutional scholar.”
Nikki Haley is seen with her father Ajit Singh Randhawa and her mother Raj Kaur Randhawa. They moved to the United States from India before Haley was born
Haley is pictured with her parents, who moved to Canada to study before settling in South Carolina in 1969
Laurence Tribe, professor emeritus at Harvard Law School, explained NBC News that Ingrassia’s claim was nonsense, and said it was ridiculous for Trump to promote it.
“The claims of Nikki Haley’s birth are completely baseless legally and constitutionally,” he said.
“I can’t imagine what Trump hopes to achieve with these claims unless he plays the race card against the former governor and UN ambassador as a woman of color — and taps into the wells of anti-immigrant bias by reminding everyone that Haley’s her parents were not citizens when she was born in the US.”
Her parents, Ajit Singh Randhawa and Raj Kaur Randhawa, first moved to Canada, where her father studied for a Ph.D. at the University of British Columbia – and then settled in Bamberg in 1969.
They only became citizens after the birth of their daughter, but that doesn’t mean she’s ineligible.
In response, Haley retweeted a Wall Street Journal post with the headline, “Who’s Afraid of Nikki Haley? Answer: Donald Trump.”
The Haley campaign did not respond to DailyMail.com’s request for comment.
Haley and her husband Michael are pictured with Donald Trump at the White House
Haley served as Trump’s UN ambassador and officially resigned in October 2018
The 51-year-old is pictured on the campaign trail in Iowa on Tuesday, with less than a week to go until the caucus
A new New Hampshire poll puts Nikki Haley 7 points behind Donald
Haley is working hard to overtake Trump in New Hampshire – the second state in the country to vote on January 23.
She is now within seven points of the former president, who has held a strong lead over all other candidates throughout the race.
Trump has the support of 39 percent of likely Republican primary voters in New Hampshire, while Haley draws 32 percent.
The rest of the field remains far behind in the poll, with former New Jersey Governor Chris Christie at 12 percent; entrepreneur Vivek Ramaswamy with 8 percent; and Florida Governor Ron DeSantis with 5 percent.