Ex-RNC chair reveals true 'intention' behind Trump's push to end birthright citizenship

15 May

Former Republican National Committee chairman Michael Steele on MSNBC on May 15, 2025 (Image: Screengrab via MSNBC / YouTube)

Attorneys for President Donald Trump's administration were in the Supreme Court's chambers on Thursday as litigation continues over his executive order attempting to end birthright citizenship for the children of undocumented immigrants.

Solicitor General John Sauer — who was one of Trump's personal lawyers last year arguing for his successful bid to have absolute immunity for official presidential acts – maintained that the government should have the right to deny citizenship to new babies born on U.S. soil if their parents are undocumented. But Trump-appointed Justices Amy Coney Barrett and Brett Kavanaugh seemed skeptical that an administration would have the right to do so, given longstanding Constitutional precedent.

And on a Thursday MSNBC panel, former Republican National Committee chairman Michael Steele – who is also an outspoken Never Trump conservative – suggested that there was more to the administration's argument than citizenship for people born on American soil.

"This is different, and I think it's important to make that distinction," Steele said. "Trump's intention and his Justice Department's intention here is basically to backslide into upending the Constitution."

As Steele pointed out, the 14th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution guarantees the full rights of citizenship to "all persons born or naturalized in the United States." The Constitution makes no distinction between immigrants and native-born Americans — possibly because nearly all of the founders of the United States were immigrants themselves. Steele urged Americans to look beyond the administration's arguments and realize the implications of Trump's crusade against a core element of the Constitution.

"This isn't about a legislative dispute that they that they may have with a particular decision of the court," he continued. "This is about upending the Constitution and getting Trump's way on birthright citizenship."

Watch the clip below, or by clicking this link.

- YouTubewww.youtube.com

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