Fox News commentator and right-wing talk radio host Mark Levin lashed out at the Supreme Court's decision upholding their century-old birthright citizenship precedent — but swiftly got called out by experts and observers for getting a basic fact about the decision incorrect.
Levin, who declared the ruling "one of the dumbest decisions I’ve seen" on "Hannity" after it was handed down, took to X to complain that "The 14th amendment was adopted by more than 2/3rds of the members of Congress and thereafter ratified by 3/4ths of the states. Yet, nowhere can the Court or its proponents point to all those elected representatives at the federal and state level who argued for birthright citizenship for the children of aliens — illegal aliens of all matter!"
That issue, Levin said, "wasn’t even on their collective mind. They were dealing with Reconstruction, which was going poorly. No, this is not a constitutional decision. It’s a cowardly decision. An abomination giving constitutional protection to what is illegal conduct."
There's just one problem, as many observers pointed out: the Supreme Court did, in fact, address the exact issue Levin is claiming they did not address.
"Mark Levin is either outright lying or tacitly admitting he did not read the decision, because the Court explicitly discussed in great detail how 'those elected representatives' intended the 14th Amendment would apply to children of immigrants," wrote American Immigration Council senior fellow Aaron Reichlin-Melnick, quoting a passage from Chief Justice John Roberts' opinion that notes, "the bill's sponsor, Senator Lyman Trumbull, enthusiastically agreed with the bill's critics that it would make citizens of 'the children of Chinese and Gypsies born in this country.'"
"Tell me you didn't read the Roberts opinion without saying you didn't read that history lesson," wrote immigration attorney and Emory University law professor Charles Kuck.
"The history of the 14th Amendment is, literally, laid out extensively in the text of the majority opinion," wrote Tangle News founder Isaac Saul. "The entire first 20 pages is Roberts citing all the drafters of the 14th Amendment and their understanding exactly what they were doing. Does anyone read anymore?"