In 2011, Ted Cruz told Republicans not to focus on birthright citizenship. Now he's 'absolutely' against it.

(Image credit: Darren McCollester/Getty Images)

published 20 August 2015

For awhile there, no one really knew how Sen. Ted Cruz felt about the 14th Amendment. Thankfully, he put us all out of our misery Wednesday when he came out as "absolutely" in support of ending birthright citizenship, a position recently trumpeted by Donald Trump. "That has been my position from the very first day of my running for the Senate," Cruz told Michael Medved on his radio show, suggesting that he has long wanted to end guaranteed citizenship for all those born on U.S. land whose parents are in the country illegally.

But as political reporter Lachlan Markay pointed out on Twitter, Cruz wasn't actually dancing to that tune back in October 2011, when he was a Senate candidate. In an interview with GOP is For Me, Cruz emphasized that he has spent years of his professional career "defending the Constitution."

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Jeva Lange was the executive editor at TheWeek.com. She formerly served as The Week's deputy editor and culture critic. She is also a contributor to Screen Slate, and her writing has appeared in The New York Daily News, The Awl, Vice, and Gothamist, among other publications. Jeva lives in New York City. Follow her on Twitter.