Kris Kobach Rekindles Birther Conspiracy While Defending Proof of Citizenship Laws

image
Author: David Yee
Published: 22 Apr, 2016
Updated: 17 Oct, 2022
2 min read

There's no doubt that Kansas Secretary of State Kris Kobach has been a champion of the cause to implement stricter voting laws across America.

Helping craft the laws in at least 3 states, including Kansas, Kobach is an ardent defender of both voter ID laws at polling places and proof-of-citizenship to register to vote.

He has also taken sharp stances on immigration, endorsing Donald Trump for his emphasis on border-control and supporting the pending SCOTUS case challenging President Obama's executive order to defer deportation action against the parents of so-called 'anchor babies.'

On his weekly radio program, Kobach responded to a caller's accusations of Obama's lack of citizenship, stating, 'but anyway, maybe you’re right, maybe that’s why he doesn’t talk about proof of citizenship, because he, you know, he would rather not bring up the citizenship issue.'

https://soundcloud.com/rightwingwatch/kris-kobach-goes-birther

Now, in fairness to Kobach's overall topic, he's probably right on his point in the program that the outright poor are not that affected by proof of citizenship laws. In Kansas, receiving social services (including TANF and SNAP) requires proof of citizenship -- while it's probably not disenfranchising the poor, it's still one more of the inconvenience factors.

Although research is mixed, law professor Michael Gilbert published an essay in the Columbia Law Review making one of the most counter-intuitive claims about voter ID laws possible — that it actually makes voter fraud worse.

So it's hard to tell whether voter ID laws are really that effective; that's a point that will continue to be debated for many years to come.

But the real issue here is the double standards on 'birther' conspiracies.

We know for a fact that Ted Cruz was born in Canada in 1970 to a mother with American citizenship (his father became a U.S. citizen in 2005). We know for a fact that President Obama's mother was an American citizen, regardless of where he was born in 1961.

IVP Donate

What's the difference?

But the irony here is in what Kobach told the National Review when defending Cruz's citizenship claims:

Consistent Democrats might realize that it would be unseemly to bring such a lawsuit after mercilessly mocking GOP birthers for so many years, but consistency has never been the Democrats’ strong suit.

In this particular instance, it appears that consistency is definitely a political issue that transcends party lines.

Latest articles

How It Really Works Health Care Behind Bars
Health Care Behind Bars - How It Really Works
The health care crisis behind bars affects two distinct but deeply connected groups: incarcerated individuals and correctional officers. While incarcerated people are constitutionally entitled to care, access remains inconsistent, and most enter custody with significant medical and mental health needs. They face higher rates of chronic illness, infectious disease, and psychiatric conditions than the general public....
12 Jun, 2025
-
20 min read
Busy New York city at night.
As Demand for Reform in NYC Grows, Open Primaries Gains Media Attention
As the New York City Charter Revision Commission considers a wide breadth of reforms to city policy, one reform in particular is catching the attention of both voters and the media: Ending the city’s use of closed partisan primaries....
12 Jun, 2025
-
3 min read
Downtown LA.
Peaceful, and Violent, Protests in Los Angeles
What began as peaceful immigration policy protests on June 6 has escalated into a national political crisis, with violent clashes, arrests, looted businesses, burning Waymo cars, a smashed government building, nighttime curfews, and an epic legal showdown between California officials and President Donald Trump fueled by partisan flames of political division....
11 Jun, 2025
-
22 min read