Harry Reid skewers Trump for digging up his old views on citizenship

Former Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid doesn't want any part of President Trump's campaign against birthright citizenship.

On Wednesday morning, Trump tweeted that Reid used to oppose guaranteeing citizenship to all those born on U.S. soil "before he and the Democrats went insane." He later backed it up with a 1993 clip of Reid, then a Nevada Democrat, telling the Senate how "no sane country" would offer birthright citizenship as "a reward for being an illegal immigrant."

The shout-out prompted Reid to come out of retirement, if only for one brief statement. He called his 1993 bill to end birthright citizenship a "mistake," just like how Trump "was gobbling up tax-free inheritance money" at the same time. Reid then called Trump out for wanting to "stoke fear instead of unify" the country, and finished by saying the president is "profoundly wrong" in assuming how Reid really feels.

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

Join more than 350,000 subscribers and keep yourself informed with a selection of The Week’s most interesting, enlightening and entertaining stories - plus daily puzzles.

Join more than 350,000 subscribers and keep yourself informed with a selection of The Week’s most interesting, enlightening and entertaining stories - plus daily puzzles.

Sign up

Trump publicized his proposed change to citizenship laws on Tuesday, asserting he didn't need a constitutional amendment to amend the interpretation of the Constitution. Legal scholars, many Republicans, and even House Speaker Paul Ryan (R-Wis.) disagree.