Atty. Apuzzo and CDR Kerchner (Ret) on the Meaning of “natural born Citizen”

“FOREIGN INFLUENCES DESTROYED MANY NATIONS”

by Sharon Rondeau

(Feb. 29, 2016) — On Monday morning, CDR Charles F. Kerchner, Jr. (Ret.) and Atty. Mario Apuzzo were guests of Jeff Crouere, host of “Ringside Politics” on WGSO in New Orleans to discuss the subject of “who is a ‘natural born Citizen.'”

The term appears in Article II, Section 1, clause 5 of the U.S. Constitution as a requirement designated solely for the presidency.

Crouere introduced his guests by stating that questions have arisen as to whether or not Sen. Ted Cruz and/or Sen. Marco Rubio are eligible to serve as president, for which they are both candidates in the 2016 race.

Apuzzo represented Kerchner in a lawsuit filed just after Obama took office on January 20, 2009 styled Kerchner, et al v. Obama and Congress, et al, which made its way through the courts but was refused a hearing by the U.S. Supreme Court.

Both guests agreed that neither Cruz, who was born in Canada to a foreign-citizen father, and Rubio, who was born in the U.S. to two non-citizen parents, is eligible to the presidency.

At approximately 4:25, Kerchner stated that Cuban law renders Cruz and Rubio citizens of that country, given their Cuban-citizen fathers at the time they were born.  “I have not heard to this day yet Marco Rubio or Ted Cruz renounce their Cuban citizenship,” Kerchner commented.

Kerchner reported on his website that Rubio and Cruz are both dual citizens of the U.S. and Cuba and that Cruz, due to his birth in Canada, was born a “tri-citizen.”

Cruz renounced his Canadian citizenship in May 2014 after claiming that he had not been aware that he possessed it.

Apuzzo explained that a “natural born Citizen” is one who does not rely on “a law” to “be a citizen.”  He stated that Cruz depends on the 1952 Immigration and Nationality Act for his U.S. citizenship and that Rubio relies on the 14th Amendment for his.

Barack Hussein Obama, who currently occupies the White House, also claimed eligibility through the 14th Amendment on his now-defunct campaign website, FighttheSmears.com.  Obama claims a foreign-citizen father, US-citizen mother, and a birth in Honolulu, HI in 1961. On March 1, 2012, a criminal investigation declared that Obama’s only proffered documentation, his “long-form” birth certificate and Selective Service registration form, to be “computer-generated forgeries.”

The interview with Crouere, which lasts 33 minutes, includes an in-depth discussion of “natural law,” on which Kerchner said the term “natural born Citizen” is based.  At 3:40, Kerchner stated that Founding Father George Washington “is the one who put that into the Constitution, because he was the commander-in-chief of the military, and he wanted to make sure a future commander-in-chief of the military had sole allegiance to this country.”

The media and political elites have rejected the historical basis Kerchner, Apuzzo and other researchers maintain was the Founders’ intent by including the “natural born Citizen” term in Article II of the Constitution.

Crouere asked why there is such a degree of “confusion” over the meaning of the requirement.  Apuzzo responded by differentiating between the terms “born citizen” and “natural born Citizen.”  “There are several U.S. Supreme Court cases that confirm all that,” he said.

Since Obama’s eligibility was questioned in late 2007, the media has often conflated “citizen” with “natural born Citizen” and affirmed Obama and others eligible.

Apuzzo said that the Founders knew that “foreign influences destroyed many nations in history.”

On Monday evening, Apuzzo accepted a challenge from radio host Mark Levin, who maintains that Cruz is constitutionally eligible to the presidency, to discuss the issue in a public forum.

Apuzzo’s website contains his research on the “natural born Citizen” issue compiled over the last eight years. Kerchner’s website is updated daily with news items germane to the topic.