Trump stokes false and racist conspiracy theory about Harris
● President fuels misinformation campaign over her eligibility for role
President Donald Trump has given credence to a false and racist conspiracy theory about Kamala Harris’s eligibility to be US vice president, fuelling an online misinformation campaign that echoes one he used to power his rise into politics.
Asked about the matter at the White House, Mr Trump said he had “heard” rumours that Ms Harris, a Us-born citizen whose parents were immigrants, does not meet the requirement to serve in the White House. The president said he considered the rumours “very serious”.
Mr Harris, picked by Joe Biden as his running mate on the Democratic ticket, was born in Oakland, California, and is eligible for both the vice presidency and presidency under the constitutional requirements. “Full stop, end of story, period, exclamation point,” said Jessica Levinson, a professor at Loyola Law School.
Mr Trump was a high-profile force behind the so-called “birther movement”, the lie that questioned whether Barack Obama, the first black US president, was eligible to serve. Only after pressure during his 2016 campaign did Mr Trump reject the claims.
His comments landed in a blizzard of other untrue, racist or sexist claims across social media and conservative websites after Mr Biden picked Ms Harris, the first black woman and the first Asian American woman on a major party ticket. The misinformation campaign has been circulating for months, propelled by Trump supporters, and now the president.
“I have no idea if that’s right,” said Mr Trump, who added that he had read a column on the subject. “I would have thought, I would have assumed, that the Democrats would have checked that out before she gets chosen to run for vice president.”
Trump made the comments in answer to a reporter’s question and appeared to be referencing an opinion piece written by John Eastman, a conservative lawyer who argues that the US constitution does not grant birthright citizenship.
Mr Eastman sowed doubt about Ms Harris’s eligibility based on her parents’ immigration status. Her mother was born in India and her father was born in Jamaica.
But constitutional law experts say her parents are beside the point. The 14th amendment grants citizenship to all people born in the US and the constitution says that, to be eligible for the vice presidency and presidency, a candidate must be a naturalborn US citizen, at least 35 and a resident of the US for a minimum of 14 years.
“There’s no question about it,” said Christopher Kelley, a political science professor at Miami University. “It’s been recognised since the people drafted it back in the 39th Congress that (the 14th) amendment would cover people not just born to American citizens but born on American soil.”
The president’s re-election campaign’s senior lawyer, Jenna Ellis, shared the controversial Eastman column on Thursday, hours before Mr Trump was asked about it. The president noted that the column was written by a “very highly qualified and very talented lawyer”.
A Republican national committee spokesman said the national party had no plans to challenge Ms Harris’s eligibility for the Democratic ticket.
Ms Harris has been a top target of misinformation since her own bid for the White House last year.
Fox News host Tucker Carlson mispronounced her first name a number of times during a segment on Tuesday night, and grew agitated when a guest corrected him, telling Carlson it was a matter of respect.
Carlson responded, “So what?” and then mispronounced her name again twice.