Right. That’s my point. That’s why the terminology is different. Naturalized citizen = “citizen” natural born = citizen by birth.
That's true. Both a naturalized citizen and a citizen by birth are citizens that share all of the same rights except for one; only a citizen by birth is eligible for the offices of President and by extension Vice-President. The Citizenship Clause in the 14th Amendment contains the only language in the Constitution defining the means by which citizenship is established and there are only two. There is no third type of super citizenship that grants an exclusive right to become President due to having citizen parents or parent.
It wouldn’t get past whatever federal judge had the misfortune to have to adjudicate it first. (Well, maybe Naomi Reo would buy it, but she’s a hack.)
That's true as well. A great many lawsuits went thru federal and state courts before and during Obama's terms as President challenging his qualification for office including the claim that because his father was not a citizen Obama didn't qualify as a natural born citizen (the Vattel or jus sanguinis argument). Many failed due to standing issues. The cases where standing was granted had testimony, witnesses, documents, multiple hearings, and to put it mildly were pretty bizarre. They all fell flat as well and went nowhere.
One consistent issue brought up by both the government attorneys and judges was that the qualifications for political candidates for any federal office are non-justiciable, meaning that courts can not decide the issue. Courts do not decide
political questions, meaning issues that belong to and are decided in the political branches of government, the legislature and executive branches. The qualification of federal political office holders is decided by Congress as laid out in the Constitution in Articles I and II, the amendments that deal with Presidential election and succession, and the federal law that governs the certification process in Congress of the electoral votes.
The only real likelihood of a case making into court
and a decision being rendered would be for a state to deny a Presidential candidate a place on the ballot as being unqualified for office. That denial could be challenged in a court as a
legal question as a violation of Constitutional rights. Except for that occurring, Presidential qualification for office is decided at three levels by different groups. First, voters can choose not to vote for the electors pledged to a candidate they consider to be unqualified. Second, the electors that actually vote for the Presidential candidates can also choose not to vote for a candidate they consider to be unqualified. Finally, when the electors votes are counted in the joint session of Congress, objections can be made to one or more electoral votes with the objections to be decided by Congress as required under federal law.
And you're also right about it being a misfortune for any judge that got one those cases. Every judge was miserable that had to listen to the crazy conspiracy nonsense and bizarre legal arguments that were presented.
Poll
