There’s a back and forth going on between GOP candidates Ted Cruz and Donald Trump. Both are going after each other as they try to get the upper-hand before the Iowa Caucuses. Cruz is leading in the polls, but that changes every day.
Enter Harvard Law Professor Laurence Tribe.
Tribe is a Harvard constitutional law professor whose students include President Barack Obama and Supreme Court justices, John Roberts and Elena Kagan. Tribe has been asked to interview on mainstream news shows because he has questions about Cruz’s presidential eligibility, concerns which have also been raised by Donald Trump and caused headaches for the Calgary-born Texas senator in the Republican primary.
Tribe was used by Cruz in two Supreme Court arguments, one of which Cruz promotes as one of the key accomplishments in his public life.
From the Guardian:
The Medellin v Texas brief is posted to Cruz’s campaign website and the case features in a campaign ad, as it did when Cruz sought election to the US Senate in 2012.
In that case, Cruz successfully argued that Texas should be allowed to execute a Mexican national convicted of rape and murder who had not been advised of his rights to contact his country’s consulate under international law.
Cruz also cited Tribe in his brief for District of Columbia v Heller, a landmark 2008 case in which the court held that the second amendment provided for an individual right to bear arms.
Cruz wrote: “For example, although arguing for a narrow construction of the amendment, Professor Laurence Tribe has squarely concluded that the second amendment provides a ‘right (admittedly of uncertain scope) on the part of individuals to possess and use firearms in the defense of themselves and their homes’.”
This brief is also posted to the Texas senator’s campaign website and Cruz has promoted his role in the case as one of his key accomplishments in public life.
The media has no problem calling up this constitutional lawyer, probably because Cruz lauded him earlier and is now throwing him to the wolves. Check out this interview and listen to see if he has an agenda:
H/T: Guardian, CNN, TedCruz.org, Politico
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What do you think of the interview? Do you think the professor had an agenda or did he also sound like Cruz in explaining the constitutional aspects of Cruz ideology? Share your comments below. Let us know what you think.