President Trump blasted Paul Ryan on Wednesday for bucking him on his idea to use an executive order to halt birthright citizenship, chiding the Republican House leader to concentrate on keeping a GOP majority in the chamber.
“Paul Ryan should be focusing on holding the Majority rather than giving his opinions on Birthright Citizenship, something he knows nothing about!,” Trump wrote in a tweet. “Our new Republican Majority will work on this, Closing the Immigration Loopholes and Securing our Border!”
Trump raised the idea of using an executive order to end the citizenship provision enshrined in the 14th Amendment during an interview on Tuesday.
“We’re the only country in the world where a person comes in and has a baby, and the baby is essentially a citizen of the United States … with all of those benefits,” Trump told Axios. “It’s ridiculous. It’s ridiculous. And it has to end.”
Shortly afterward, Ryan shot down the idea.
“Well, you obviously cannot do that. You know, as a conservative, I’m a believer in following the plain text of the Constitution, and I think in this case the 14th Amendment is pretty clear, and that would involve a very, very lengthy constitutional process,” the Wisconsin Republican told Kentucky radio station WVLK.