Quote:
Originally Posted by Sidney Crosby's Hat
I think if you're born outside the U.S. but both your parents are American at the time, you're still eligible (which is why Ted Cruz was able to run in 2016).
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Ted Cruz's father was not American, he was Cuban. It seems like eons ago now, but in the Republican primaries in 2016 Cruz's eligibility was questioned by his opponents for that very reason.
The "natural-born citizen" requirement has been interpreted to mean "born with American citizenship", whether by virtue of being born on American soil or being conferred American citizenship by descent. Cruz was automatically American by birth, by virtue of his mother being American (and had lived in the US since birth and hadn't moved to Canada until well into adulthood).
Musk became a naturalized US citizen in 2002. His closest ties to American citizenry are through his maternal grandfather, who was born in the US. His grandfather moved to Canada as a child and Musk's mother was born in Canada, and
she did not automatically receive American citizenship because her father—while American by birth—had been living outside the US since childhood. Since she wasn't American by birth, neither was Elon, thus he's not a "natural-born citizen" and can't be president.