Former President Donald Trump has once again turned to nativism and fraudulent "birther" claims as a method of undermining his political rivals. Trump on Monday posted a phony report from far-right outlet The Gateway Pundit to his Truth Social account claiming that Nikki Haley's parents were not U.S. citizens at the time of her birth, thereby disqualifying her "from presidential or vice-presidential candidacy under the 12th amendment."
Trump's pushing of the false birther claim comes as Haley, one of his top GOP opponents for the 2024 presidential election, closes in on his lead in New Hampshire. A new CNN poll conducted by the University of New Hampshire showed that Haley has garnered 32 percent of likely votes from GOP primary voters compared to Trump's 39 percent. As noted by NBC, Haley has been a U.S. citizen her entire life — though her Indian immigrant parents were not yet American citizens at the time of her birth in South Carolina in 1972, the 14th Amendment stipulates that “all persons born or naturalized in the United States” are citizens.
