White House senior adviser Jared Kushner did not outright reject a conspiracy theory his father-in-law, President Donald Trump, ignited about Senator Kamala Harris (D-Calif.), who this week Democrat Joe Biden announced would be his running mate in this year’s race for the White House. The president had suggested that Harris may not “meet the requirements” to run for office, implying she is not a United States citizen. Harris was born and raised in California.
“Do you accept that Kamala Harris is a qualified candidate?” CBS’s Anthony Mason asked Kushner earlier today.
“I personally have no reason to believe she’s not but again my focus for the last 24 hours has been on the historic peace deal,” Kushner replied.
“She was born in Oakland, California,” Mason said..
“Yeah,” Kushner said.
“That makes her a qualified candidate,” Mason said. “Why didn’t the president take the opportunity to debunk that theory?”
“I have not had the opportunity to discuss this with him,” Kushner said, “but I’ll let his words speak for himself.”
You can watch the clip of the interview below.
Do you accept that @KamalaHarris is a qualified candidate? — @AnthonyMasonCBS
“I personally have no reason to believe she’s not but again my focus for the last 24 hours has been on the historic peace deal” — @jaredkushner
“She was born in Oakland, CA” — Mason
“Yeah” — Kushner pic.twitter.com/rqV7zK4t4z
— CBS This Morning (@CBSThisMorning) August 14, 2020
It was yesterday evening that President Trump suggested Harris is ineligible for the vice presidency. This claim mirrors the “birther” movement he ignited against former President Barack Obama, suggesting he was not born in the United States despite all evidence to the contrary.
“I heard it today that she doesn’t meet the requirements,” Trump said. “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, I would’ve assumed the Democrats would’ve checked that out before she gets chosen to run for vice president,” Trump added when pressed. “But that’s very serious, they are saying she doesn’t qualify because she wasn’t born in this country.”