On Tuesday, The Daily Wire’s Matt Walsh made the shocking claim that Rep. Maria Elvira Salazar (R-FL) is “not American” and should “go back to Cuba.” Salazar, in fact, was born in Miami and is an American citizen. Lashing out at Media Matters for pointing out this inconvenient fact, on Thursday Walsh reiterated his claim, arguing that citizenship does not equal American identity.

Salazar has been under fire in right-wing media for co-sponsoring the “Dignity Act of 2025.” Walsh has already called Salazar “a traitor” for co-sponsoring this legislation.

Working alongside the Trump administration, right-wing media have been on an escalating campaign to end birthright citizenship on the basis of a series of untrue myths. Walsh himself has called for an end to birthright citizenship and for deporting the American-born children of undocumented immigrants.

Salazar is not the only citizen Walsh has attacked. Last week, he claimed that Minneapolis mayoral candidate Omar Fateh “was born in America, but he’s not actually an American.” Walsh has also claimed that Puerto Rico, which is a territory of the United States, is “not American and it’ll never be.”

Walsh is setting himself up as the judge and jury of national identity. Given that he believes “this country was in fact primarily built by white men," it’s not hard to figure out what he thinks constitutes an American.