A proposal from a Democratic Socialist of America activist has reignited a long-running constitutional debate over who should be eligible to serve as president of the United States.
Deep Singh Badhesha, a democratic socialist podcast host, argued on social media over the weekend that the DSA should make amending the Constitution one of its priorities so that naturalized American citizens could seek the nation’s highest office.
“DSA should push for a constitutional amendment so naturalized citizens can run for President. Then we do what’s so clearly in front of us: Zohran Mamdani / Melat Kiros ticket,” Badhesha wrote.
The suggestion came after a string of electoral victories by progressive and DSA-backed candidates. In New York, candidates endorsed by New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani defeated two incumbent Democrats in congressional primaries while winning another open-seat contest. In Colorado, DSA-backed candidate Melat Kiros unseated longtime Democratic Rep. Diana DeGette in a closely watched primary.
DSA should push for a constitutional amendment so naturalized citizens can run for President.
Then we do what’s so clearly in front of us:
Zohran Mamdani / Melat Kiros ticket
— Deep Singh Badhesha (@DeepNotShallow) July 12, 2026
Whether such a proposal could ever become reality is another matter entirely.
The Constitution establishes a deliberately difficult amendment process. Any proposed amendment must receive a two-thirds vote in both the House of Representatives and the Senate before being ratified by three-fourths of the states.
Article II, Section 1 of the Constitution further specifies that only a “natural born Citizen,” or someone who was already a citizen at the time the Constitution was adopted, is eligible to serve as president.
That provision means neither Mamdani nor Kiros currently qualifies for the office. Mamdani, who was born in Uganda, became a U.S. citizen in 2018. Kiros was born in Ethiopia. In addition, Kiros, at age 29, would not yet meet the Constitution’s minimum age requirement of 35 for either the presidency or the vice presidency.
According to Congress.gov’s annotated Constitution, the Framers included the natural-born-citizen requirement to minimize the possibility of foreign influence over the presidency.
The annotation cites Supreme Court Justice Joseph Story, who wrote that the provision was intended to guard against “ambitious foreigners” seeking the office and to create “a barrier against those corrupt interferences of foreign governments in executive elections.”
The renewed discussion over the constitutional requirement has also drawn attention to Mamdani’s recent remarks during a Fourth of July naturalization ceremony marking America’s 250th anniversary.
Speaking to newly naturalized citizens while seated at George Washington’s presidential desk, Mamdani emphasized what he described as their role in shaping the country’s future.
“You each hold a special power, the power to determine what America means,” he said.
Mamdani contrasted his vision of the nation with what he characterized as that of powerful interests.
Communist NYC Mayor Zohran Mamdani, who just came to this country, chose to become an American, is deciding he is the foremost authority to tell Americans what it means to be American.
He has the AUDACITY, on America’s 250th birthday, to call our great nation “an arena of… pic.twitter.com/sayf6IDu90
— Benny Johnson (@bennyjohnson) July 3, 2026
“The powerful have always known their answer,” he said. “America, in their view, is an arena of supremacy where only a select few are allowed freedom, where not all are created equal.”
He continued by arguing that some people believe America belongs only to individuals “with the right accent or the right shade of skin,” while others should simply be grateful to be accepted.
Mamdani also focused on economic inequality, saying the nation’s prosperity had been built through the labor of working people while much of its wealth remained concentrated among a relatively small number of individuals.
“We see a nation whose immense wealth has been built by those with calloused, dirt-streaked hands,” he said. “Those who toil on factory floors and chisel into stone, and we see a nation that has allowed so much of that wealth to be held instead in the soft hands of a precious few.”
