CHRIS CILLIZZA: Who had the worst week in Washington: Ted Cruz

Everything was going exactly according to plan for Ted Cruz and his presidential campaign. Until, suddenly, the question of whether he could actually serve as president -- an issue that's percolated around Cruz for years but had remained on the back burner during the campaign -- boiled over.

Cruz was born in Canada. Calgary, to be specific. His mother was and remains an American citizen. That makes Cruz a citizen. But does it also mean he fits the definition of a "natural born citizen," as the Constitution requires America's presidents to be?

That is the question that Donald Trump -- of course -- raised this past week, first in an interview with The Washington Post and then in roughly 2 million follow-up interviews.

"Republicans are going to have to ask themselves the question: Do we want a candidate who could be tied up in court for two years?" Trump said. "That'd be a big problem." Later in the week Trump tweeted this advice to Cruz: "Go to court now & seek Declaratory Judgment." Thanks, Donald!

Cruz initially tried to laugh the whole thing off. But then he put out a serious statement insisting that "people will continue to make political noise about it, but as a legal matter, it's quite straightforward."

Fighting back against insinuations that he might present a problem for Republicans if he is the nominee was not the way Cruz wanted to spend a week this close to the Iowa caucuses.

Ted Cruz, for being birthered by the master, you had the worst week in Washington. Congrats, or something.

Chris Cillizza writes "The Fix," a politics blog for the Washington Post.

This story was originally published January 9, 2016 at 10:19 PM with the headline "CHRIS CILLIZZA: Who had the worst week in Washington: Ted Cruz ."