Donald Trump and Ted Cruz each raised the hypothetical possibility of being each others’ running mates during an argument over Cruz’s eligibility to be president in Thursday’s GOP Presidential Debate.
Trump said he has brought up Cruz’s birth in Canada — trying to raise questions about whether he meets the Constitutional definition of a natural-born citizen — because Democrats would do the same if he chose Cruz as his running mate.
“I choose him as my vice presidential candidate and the Democrats sue because we can’t take him along for the ride. I don’t like that. … I already know the Democrats are going to sue,” Trump said. He urged Cruz to “get a declaratory judgement, let the courts decide.”
Cruz said there was no question about his eligibility to run, saying that as an experienced attorney, “I’m not going to be taking legal advice from Donald Trump.”
Cruz also said that Democrats could hypothetically raise questions about Trump’s citizenship as well, because his mother was born in Scotland.
“I’m not going to use your mother’s birth against you,” he said.
He also told Trump that he might also consider Trump as his veep candidate. If he were ruled ineligible, it could work out well for his No. 2, Cruz joked.
“If you happen to be right, you could get the top job at the end of the day,” he said.
“I think I’ll go back to building buildings, thank you,” said Trump.