Trump’s historical past of launching “birther” conspiracy theories towards rivals

Former President Trump resumed outdated methods this week towards a brand new goal — fellow Republican presidential candidate Nikki Haley.

The massive image: Trump has a historical past of launching racist “birther” conspiracies towards opponents, notably to discredit these he sees as a direct menace to him.

Driving the information: Trump on Monday promoted such a conspiracy principle towards Haley, who has solidified her second-place polling in New Hampshire intently behind the previous president.

• Trump shared a publish by The Gateway Pundit, a far-right web site widespread amongst his supporters that pedals quite a few conspiracy theories, which calls into query Haley’s U.S. citizenship and deems her ineligible to carry the excessive workplace.
• The publish falsely claims that as a result of Haley’s immigrant dad and mom, who’re from India, weren’t U.S. residents in 1972 when she was born, she is disqualified from being president or vice-president below the twelfth Modification.

Be good: Haley was born within the U.S., thus mechanically making her a citizen.

Flashback: Trump was a part of the “birther” motion towards former President Obama, which falsely claimed that the Hawaii-born then-president was truly born in Kenya and that his start certificates was cast.

• Throughout the 2016 election, Trump launched related claims towards then-Republican presidential main rival Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Texas) — claiming he was unqualified as he was born in Canada (to a U.S. citizen-mother, which certified him as a pure born citizen).

Of be aware: Vice President Kamala Harris was a goal throughout the 2020 election of a baseless conspiracy principle pushed by a Trump marketing campaign official and others claiming she might be ineligible for the vice presidency as a result of each her dad and mom weren’t naturalized residents at her start.

• Trump informed reporters on the time that his presidential marketing campaign would “not be pursuing” the declare, however refused to say affirmatively that the California-born Harris was, in truth, eligible.

In the meantime, Trump’s eligibly to be on the poll this yr has been referred to as into query, with states citing the 14th Modification revolt clause to argue his position within the Capitol riot disqualifies him from the presidency.

Go deeper: The place efforts to disqualify Trump from 2024 poll stand