Zohran Mamdani cannot become U.S. president under the current Constitution. The key hurdle is the eligibility clause in Article II, Section 1, which states that only a natural-born citizen shall be eligible for the presidency. Mamdani was born in Kampala, Uganda, in 1991 to non-U.S. citizen parents and later naturalized as a U.S. citizen in 2018. Because he was not a natural-born citizen at birth, he is ineligible to hold the office of President of the United States under the plain text of the constitutional requirement. Key points to understand:
- Constitutional rule: No person except a natural-born Citizen shall be eligible to the Office of the President. This has been interpreted to mean citizenship at birth, either on U.S. soil or through American parentage abroad. A person born outside the United States to non-American parents and later naturalized does not meet the natural-born requirement. This interpretation has consistently blocked naturalized citizens from presidential eligibility since the founding era.
- Practical implications: Even with long residence, leadership roles in other offices, or broad political appeal, a naturalized citizen cannot legally run for president under current law. Amendments to the Constitution would be required to alter this eligibility criterion, and such amendments have historically faced substantial political obstacles and were not successful in past efforts.
- Related discussions: Coverage across major outlets consistently states that the legal barrier is insurmountable under present law, though there is occasional debate about whether constitutional amendments could change this in the future.
If you’d like, I can summarize how the natural-born citizenship requirement has been interpreted historically, or outline proposed constitutional amendment efforts and why they’ve failed in the past.
