Graham on Harris: ‘No Issue’ as to Whether She’s a US Citizen

Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.) speaks during a press conference at the U.S. Capitol in Washington, on Dec. 20, 2018. Win McNamee/Getty Images

Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.) said there is no debate about whether Sen. Kamala Harris (D-Calif.) is an American citizen after there were claims online that she might not be able to serve as Joe Biden’s vice president.

“There are plenty of issues to find disagreement with @KamalaHarris regarding her record as Senator or as a Vice Presidential nominee,” Graham wrote in a statement on Twitter. “She is consistently rated one of the most liberal members of the U.S. Senate, fully embracing a radical Democratic agenda.”

But he added that Harris, who was tapped as Biden’s pick earlier this year, “there is no issue as to whether or not she is an American citizen.”

“She was born in the United States in 1964 to parents who were legally present. Under the Constitution and Supreme Court precedent, she is unequivocally an American citizen,” he wrote.

Graham was seemingly referring to Harris’s record in the Senate. Some congressional watchdog groups have ranked her as among the most left-leaning senators. For example, Americans for Democratic Action, a liberal advocacy group gave her perfect scores in 2017 and 2018. GovTrack, a nonpartisan group, ranked Harris as the “most liberal senator” in 2019 based on legislation she co-sponsored or sponsored.

On Thursday, President Donald Trump told reporters that he heard of reports that Harris may not “meet the requirements” of being vice president.

Democratic presidential candidate former Vice President Joe Biden and his running mate Sen. Kamala Harris (D-Calif.) arrive to speak at a news conference at Alexis Dupont High School in Wilmington, Del., on Aug. 12, 2020. Carolyn Kaster/AP Photo

“I have no idea if that’s right. I would have assumed the Democrats would have checked that out before she gets chosen to run for vice president,” he said in response to a question about whether Harris meets the legal requirements to run.

Some legacy news outlets and Democrats, including Biden’s campaign, asserted that Trump is racist for making the statement.

Harris was born in California to parents who emigrated to the United States from Jamaica and India.

A professor of law at Chapman University, John C. Eastman, wrote an article for Newsweek this week questioning whether Harris is a “natural born citizen” because her parents were not U.S. citizens at the time of her birth.

On Friday, Trump adviser and son-in-law Jared Kushner told CBS News: “I personally have no reason to believe she’s not” a citizen.

Meanwhile, on Thursday, Harris and Biden appeared at a news conference in Delaware. The two candidates said that if Biden wins the presidency, he would mandate that all Americans wear masks to curb the spread of the CCP (Chinese Communist Party) virus.