On The Kelly File Tuesday night, tensions flared between Fox News host Megyn Kelly and Republican presidential candidate Ted Cruz over the subject of birthright citizenship.
Kelly asked Cruz to discuss what he would do as president when it comes to the issue of “anchor babies” – whether he would deport a child born to immigrants living in the U.S. illegally.
The Texas senator explained that he would first focus on areas of bipartisan agreement – namely securing the border and improving legal immigration procedures – in order to begin to solve the challenges plaguing the U.S. immigration system.
Kelly accused Cruz of “dodging” her question specific to the children of illegal immigrants, to which Cruz replied,
“Megyn, I’m not playing the game. I get that that’s the question you want to ask. It’s also the question every mainstream, liberal journalist wants to ask. They focus exclusively on the 12 million people.”
“Is it an unfair question to ask?” Kelly pressed.
“It is a distraction from how we actually solve the problem,” Cruz argued.
“It’s also the question Barack Obama wants to focus on.”
“Why is it so hard? Why don’t you just say ‘yes’ or ‘no’?” Kelly asked.
“Because, Megyn, we need to solve the problem, and the way you solve the problem is you focus where there’s bipartisan agreement,” Cruz replied.
“Once we’ve secured the border, once we’ve actually proven we can do this, once we’ve stopped the Obama administration’s policy of releasing 104,000 violent criminal illegal aliens in one year, then we can have a debate – then we can have a conversation.”
To watch the full heated exchange, watch the Fox News video below.