More than two years removed from his final days as California governor, Arnold Schwarzenegger reportedly has his sights set on higher office -- even though current rules dictate he can't run.
The New York Post published a report Friday claiming that Schwarzenegger is mulling a push to change the section of the U.S. Constitution requiring presidential candidates to be American-born. Schwarzenegger was born in Austria, and obtained his U.S. citizenship in 1983.
“Schwarzenegger has been talking openly about working on getting the constitutional rules changed so he can run for president in 2016," the source claimed to the Post. "He is ready to file legal paperwork to challenge the rules.”
The relevant segment of of the U.S. Constitution (Article II, Section I, Clause V) reads as follows:
"No person except a natural born citizen, or a citizen of the United States, at the time of the adoption of this Constitution, shall be eligible to the office of President; neither shall any person be eligible to that office who shall not have attained to the age of thirty five years, and been fourteen Years a resident within the United States."
This is not the first instance of presidential speculation surrounding Schwarzenegger. Back in February 2009, he told CBS' "60 Minutes" that he "absolutely" had interest in challenging the constitutional rule.
"I think, you know, because why not?" he said at the time. "Like with my way of thinking, you always shoot for the top. But it's not something that I am preoccupied with. I am not thinking one single minute about that. Because there's so many things I have to do in California, and my promise was to straighten out the mess in California."
In April 2010, Schwarzenegger reiterated that perspective in an appearance on the "Tonight Show with Jay Leno." When asked if the natural-born citizen law did not exist, he said "without a doubt" that he would run for president.
Before You Go
