Arizona Sen. John McCain said he doesn't know if the Canadian-born Sen. Ted Cruz of Texas is eligible to be president, saying the Supreme Court might have to decide if Cruz is eligible to be president. 
 
 "I don't know the answer to that," said McCain on the Chris Merrill Show on KFYI550 on Wednesday of Cruz's eligibility. "I know it came up in my race because I was born in Panama, but I was born in the Canal Zone, which is a territory. Barry Goldwater was born in Arizona when it was a territory when he ran in 1964." 
 
 Cruz was a U.S. citizen at birth; his mother was a U.S. citizen living in Canada at the time. 
 
 In an interview with the Washington Post on Tuesday, Donald Trump said Ted Cruz's Canadian birth would be a "big problem" for the Republican Party. Kentucky Sen. Rand Paul added on Wednesday that he was not sure if Cruz was eligible to be president of the United States either. (Both men previously had said it was not an issue.) 
 
 "Yeah, it was a U.S. military base," continued McCain about his own birth. "That's different from being born on foreign soil, so I think there is a question. I am not a constitutional scholar on that, but I think it's worth looking into. I don't think it's illegitimate to look into it." 
 
 "I would think so," McCain added, when asked if Cruz should try to get ahead of eligibility issues, saying he got ahead of questions about his birth in the Canal Zone. 
 
 "It may be, that may be the case," McCain said of the Supreme Court deciding the meaning of being a "natural-born" citizen. 
 
 McCain has long been critical of Cruz. ||||| Sen. John McCain. (Andrew Harrer/Bloomberg) 
 
 A great man once said: The arc of the moral universe is long, and it bends toward revenge. 
 
 John McCain proved the power of revenge on Wednesday night when asked about his longtime nemesis Ted Cruz's eligibility to be president, despite being born in Canada. 
 
 “I don’t know the answer to that,” McCain said on the "Chris Merrill Show" on Wednesday. “I know it came up in my race because I was born in Panama, but I was born in the Canal Zone, which is a territory. Barry Goldwater was born in Arizona when it was a territory when he ran in 1964." 
 
 Boom goes the dynamite. 
 
 It's no secret that Cruz is hated by McCain and lots and lots of the Washington establishment. McCain famously/infamously called Cruz (and a few other tea party types) "wacko birds" — he later apologized — and has repeatedly clashed with the Texas senator over what he believes to be the latter's tendency to grandstand. (McCain detractors will roll their eyes at the idea of him being apoplectic over other people grandstanding.) 
 
 What has been less clear is how the GOP establishment's white-hot hatred for Cruz could manifest itself in the Republican presidential primary. This is how. 
 
 By McCain giving a "you know, that's a good question" response to the question of whether Cruz is eligible to be president, he keeps the story — not a good one for the Texas senator — very much alive. 
 
 Now, the media narrative becomes that it's not just Donald Trump saying things because (a) he's Donald Trump and (b) it's in Trump's political interest to attack Cruz since he trails him in Iowa. It's the 2008 Republican presidential nominee who, oh by the way, went through a very real back and forth over his own eligibility to run back then. 
 
 McCain shivving Cruz won't drastically damage the Texas senator's strength in the race. For some, it will affirm that Cruz is the anti-establishment force they love. But, McCain's comment shows how the establishment can influence the race — by using the platform senators (and others) have to kill or boost stories. 
 
 Expect more of this. And the establishment will relish every minute of it. ||||| Senator McCain Says Cruz Citizenship 'Worth Looking Into' 
 
 Senator John McCain says "it's worth looking into" whether Texas Senator Ted Cruz is eligible to serve as President. 
 
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 The Arizona Republican addressed the matter yesterday on 550 KFYI's "The Chris Merrill Show" and said he's really unsure about Cruz's status. Cruz was born in Canada to an American mother. He had dual U.S. and Canadian citizenship until renouncing his Canadian citizenship in 2014. 
 
 McCain says he was questioned about his eligibility when he was the Republican nominee in his race against Barack Obama in 2008. McCain was born on a U.S. military base in Panama, where his father was serving in the U.S. Navy. 
 
 GOP frontrunner Donald Trump raised the issue of Cruz's eligibility in an interview with the Washington Post earlier this week. McCain says he was born on a U.S. military base, which is different from Cruz's situation. McCain says Cruz might do well to get out ahead of this potential controversy. 
 
 Listen to the interview on 550 KFYI's "The Chris Merrill Show" below:
– There's a surprising new skeptic on the eligibility of the Canadian-born Ted Cruz to be president: John McCain. "It came up in my race because I was born in Panama, but I was born in the Canal Zone, which is a territory," McCain said Wednesday on 550 KFYI. "Barry Goldwater was born in Arizona when it was a territory when he ran in 1964.” McCain and Goldwater were two of the examples Cruz used to justify his eligibility when he addressed the issue this week. Cruz was born in Canada, but his mother was a US citizen, which gave him US citizenship at birth, BuzzFeed reports. "It was a US military base,” McCain clarified to KFYI about his own birth. “That’s different from being born on foreign soil, so I think there is a question. I am not a constitutional scholar on that, but I think it’s worth looking into." According to Chris Cillizza at the Washington Post, it's really not all that surprising McCain would join Donald Trump and Rand Paul in questioning the eligibility of Cruz, who Cillizza describes as McCain's "longtime nemesis." In the past, McCain has accused Cruz of "grandstanding" and lumped him in with Tea Party "wacko birds." Cillizza characterizes McCain's statements on Cruz's eligibility as an act of revenge. "By McCain giving a 'you know, that's a good question' response to the question of whether Cruz is eligible to be president, he keeps the story—not a good one for the Texas senator—very much alive," Cillizza writes.