Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders, an Independent who is running for president as a Democrat, got defensive when an NPR host implied he holds a dual citizenship with the United States and Israel.
"Senator, you have dual citizenship with Israel," NPR host Diane Rehm said during an interview Wednesday.
Mediaite captured the audio of the interview.
Sanders immediately jumped in, saying, "No, I do not have dual citizenship with Israel. I'm an American. I don't know where that question came from.
"I am an American citizen, and I have visited Israel on a couple of occasions. No, I am an American citizen, period."
Rehm then explained she saw Sanders' name on a list of people with dual citizenships.
Again, Sanders took offense to the comment.
"That's some of the nonsense that goes on in the Internet. But that is absolutely not true," he said.
Rehm then asked Sanders if he knew of any members of Congress who hold dual citizenships with Israel.
"I honestly don't know," Sanders replied. "But I have read that on the Internet. My dad came to this country from Poland at the age of 17 without a nickel in his pocket, [he] loved this country.
"I get offended a little bit by that comment, and I know it's been on the Internet. I am obviously an American citizen and I do not have any dual citizenship."
Late Wednesday, Rehm issued an apology on
her show's Facebook page:
"On today's show, I made a mistake. Rather than asking Senator and Presidential Candidate Bernie Sanders whether he had dual U.S./Israeli citizenship, as I had read in a comment on Facebook, I stated it as fact.
"He corrected me, saying he did not know where the question came from. I apologized immediately.
"I want to apologize as well to all our listeners for having made an erroneous statement. I am sorry for the mistake. However, I am glad to play a role in putting this rumor to rest."
According to Article II, Section 1, Clause 5 of the Constitution, a person must meet the following criteria in order to be president: "No Person except a natural born Citizen, or a Citizen of the United States, at the time of the Adoption of this Constitution, shall be eligible to the Office of President; neither shall any Person be eligible to that Office who shall not have attained to the Age of thirty five Years, and been fourteen Years a Resident within the United States."
There is no mention of dual citizenships and whether or not that would disqualify someone from becoming president.
Sen. Ted Cruz, a Texas Republican, was the first candidate to join the race when he announced his candidacy in March. He has come under fire by some because he was born in Canada. His mother is American and his father is Cuban, and the couple was working in the oil industry at the time of Cruz's birth.
Legal experts have said Cruz would still be eligible to serve as president.
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