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Sen. Mike Lee, R-Utah. took NBC News to task for “selectively omitting” a key part of the 14th Amendment in the birthright question during an interview with President-elect Donald Trump on Sunday.
Trump was asked about a number of changes he intends to implement when he takes office during a session broadcast on NBC’s “Meet the Press,” including his plan to end citizenship by birth. Under the 14th Amendment, someone born in the US is granted citizenship regardless of whether their parents are citizens. Trump has confirmed that he intends to end the policy “on day one”, calling it “ridiculous”.
NBC anchor Kristen Welker fired back, arguing that the 14th Amendment “says that all persons in the United States are citizens. Can you override the 14th amendment with executive action?” she asked.
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Donald Trump said he plans to end birthright citizenship on Day One in an interview with “Meet the Press.” (Screenshot/NBC)
Trump said he was open to using executive action, repeating that the US is “the only country that has it” and that “we have to stop it.”
Lee shared a video of the exchange on X later Sunday, chiding the NBC anchor for leaving out six critical words from the 14th Amendment in her question to Trump.
“All persons born . . . in the United States, *and subject to the jurisdiction thereof,* shall be citizens of the United States,” Lee wrote on the X, underscoring the asterisks on the missing word.
“Those words are important,” he added.
The senator went on to dissect the issue in a lengthy 12-part thread.
“Congress has the power to define what it means to be born in the United States ‘and subject to its jurisdiction,'” he wrote.
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“Although current law contains no such limitation, Congress could pass legislation defining what it means to be born in the United States ‘and subject to its jurisdiction,’ potentially excluding US-born illegal aliens with birthright citizenship.”
“Those who suggest that Congress is somehow powerless to limit birthright citizenship ignore an important constitutional text that gives Congress the power to define who among those ‘born in the United States’ is born under its jurisdiction.”
“It bothers me that @MeetThePress, long respected as America’s leading weekly political news program, has become so one-sided,” he continued.
“In this case, @MeetThePress seems to be trying to make a debatable point out of debate by selectively omitting key words from the Constitution, making it appear incorrect that the Fourteenth Amendment prohibits any restrictions on birthright citizenship.”
NBC did not respond to Fox News Digital when asked if the omission was intentional.
Trump touched on a number of other topics during the wide-ranging interview, including his plan to rebuild the country’s global reputation, his thoughts on FBI Director Christopher Wray and how he plans to unite shattered country in his inaugural speech.
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“It will be a message of unity, and I think success brings unity. And I’ve experienced that. I experienced it in my first term, as I said. We’re going to talk about unity, and we’re going to talk about success in keeping people who shouldn’t be in our country, I know it doesn’t sound nice, but we have to do it. Basically, it will work about bringing our country together,” Trump said.
