Scott Walker refuses to take a position on birthright citizenship

Following an array of gray-area opinions about birthright citizenship coming from Republican presidential candidates in the past week, Scott Walker, for one, has decided to put an end to rumors about where he stands — sort of. At the Iowa State Fair on Monday, Walker claimed that going forward, birthright citizenship should "absolutely" be ended, disallowing babies born on U.S. soil from automatically being granted citizenship.

However, when asked later that same day how he felt about the Fourteenth Amendment, Walker backtracked. "Securing the border, enforcing the laws, and having a legal immigration system that gives priority to American working families" were his priorities, he said — not ending birthright.

In an interview with NBC today, Walker decided to finally play it safe down the middle. Speaking with John Harwood, Walker claimed that as far as birthright citizenship went, he's actually "not taking a position on it one way or the other." Without securing the border, Walker insisted, we are "looking past the very things we have to do."

Subscribe to The Week

Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.

SUBSCRIBE & SAVE

Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters

From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.

From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.

Sign up

Watch his whole explanation below. Jeva Lange