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Trump praises law professor who pushed Kamala Harris 'birther' theory, calls him 'very qualified and talented'

The ‘birther’ issue involving Harris came to the fore on Wednesday, August 12, when right-wing law professor John C Eastman questioned the Democrat’s eligibility to become the vice president in an op-ed

President Donald Trump loves to attack his political opponents on the question of birth, especially if they are individuals of color. In the past, he has often targeted his predecessor Barack Obama on the question of birth even though the latter was born in Honolulu, Hawaii. And now, the maverick Republican has found a new rival in Kamala Harris, who he has attacked over the ‘birther’ theory. The California senator has been picked by presumptive Democratic presidential nominee Joe Biden as his running mate for the November 3 election. 

The ‘birther’ issue involving Harris, born in Oakland to a Jamaican father and Indian mother, came to the fore on Wednesday, August 12, when right-wing law professor John C Eastman questioned the Democrat’s eligibility to become the vice president in an op-ed in Newsweek. He argued that the senator might not be fit to become the veep under the US Constitution since her parents were not the citizens of the country at the time of her birth in 1964. 

Trump calls Eastman 'very talented'

Trump was quick to capitalize on Eastman’s views as he told reporters a day later that he had “no idea” if Harris was eligible to become the No. 2 in an American administration. The president also praised the professor calling him a “very highly qualified, very talented”. Trump was asked by a reporter whether he could “definitely say” if Harris was eligible to become the VP since she was an “anchor baby” -- a negative term used for immigrants who have children in the US so that they can get citizenship. “So I just heard that. I heard it today. That she doesn't meet the requirements and by the way the lawyer that wrote that piece is a very highly qualified, very talented lawyer. I have no idea if that's right,” Trump said. 

“I would have assumed the Democrats would have checked that out before she gets chosen to run for vice president,” the president further said, adding that the unfounded claims were “very serious.” He then asked back the reporter to explain what Harris’s issue was. “You’re saying that, they’re saying that she doesn't qualify because she wasn't born in this country?” he asked. 

When the journalist responded by saying that Harris’s parents were not Americans and weren’t citizens of the country either when Harris was born. “I don't know about it, I just heard about it, I'll take a look,” the president, who recently called Harris "nasty" and "mean", said. 

Trump’s aides were also busy bringing the focus back to the question. Jenna Ellis, senior legal adviser to the president’s campaign, retweeted a post by Judicial Watch president Tom Fitton that shared the editorial and told ABC News later: “It’s an open question, and one I think Harris should answer so the American people know for sure she is eligible.”

Eastman’s piece, however, also found its share of critics. A number of experts attacked it as racist, including Georgetown University Law Center professor Josh Chafetz who told FactCheck.org that the said article was “racist nonsense.” Eastman has a history of electoral rivalry with Harris. In 2010, he ran for the position of California attorney-general, as did the Democrat, but was defeated in the Republican primary. Harris, on the other hand, went on to win the contest and served for six years before becoming the senator. 

Trump's words resembled attack on Obama

Trump’s words on Harris resembled the sentiments that he fueled against his immediate predecessor, America’s first president of color. It was as early as in April 11, 2011, when Obama was just a few years into office, that the businessman-politician pushed the 'birther' conspiracy. He had claimed then that the Democrat’s ‘certificate of live birth’ was actually not a ‘birth certificate’. Obama is the first American president born outside the American mainland and is the child of an American mother and Kenyan father.

Obama later countered the charge at the White House Correspondents’ Dinner jokingly in late April by showing the audience his ‘official birth video’ -- the opening scenes of Disney’s ‘The Lion King’. Days later, the White House released Obama’s long-form birth certificate. The matter came up after Trump joined the presidential race in 2016. Though he admitted that Obama was born in the US, he also claimed that it was Hillary Clinton’s 2008 presidential campaign which gave birth to the ‘birther’ conspiracy theory.