Rubio lawyers swat down ‘birther’ challenge

by Ben Kamisar - 01/14/16 12:35 PM ET

Marco Rubio’s lawyers are defending his eligibility to run for president in a quixotic legal challenge that alleges he isn’t a natural-born citizen.

A Florida voter filed the suit, which claims that the senator isn’t a true “natural-born citizen” under the Constitution because his parents were not both U.S. citizens at his birth in Miami.

{mosads}The challenge occurs as 2016 rival Ted Cruz has been thrust into the spotlight by repeated “birther” challenges by party front-runner Donald Trump and other critics because the Texas senator was born in Canada.

So far, only Cruz has faced significant questions from those challenging his natural-born status. But the legal brief shows Rubio’s lawyers trying to cut down the accusations at an early level.

The 34-page document, first disclosed by the Tampa Bay Times, casts aside the claim, noting that under the voter’s logic “at least six other Presidents of the United States were not natural born citizens and were therefore ineligible for that office.”

“Centuries of precedent demonstrate that Senator Marco Rubio is a natural-born citizen and eligible to be president,” the lawyers write, breaking down old English law as precedent before moving to an analysis of colonial and early American history on the subject.

It also notes that the same voter’s suit against President Obama, citing similar points, was thrown out by a Florida court as well. Rubio’s lawyers then go into significant detail challenging the voter’s standing to sue and citing a range of legal precedent in favor of Rubio’s eligibility as a “natural-born citizen” while adding that the issue should be left up to Congress instead of the judiciary.

Tags Donald Trump Marco Rubio Ted Cruz