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He’s a conservative Senator from Texas known for his sharp rhetoric and past runs ins with Donald Trump. This week on Firing Line. The son of a Cuban immigrant, Senator Ted Cruz burst onto the national stage after his long-shot grassroots campaign led him to the Senate in 2012
CRUZ: We will get back and store that shining city on a hill that is the United States of America
A tea party darling, staunchly opposed to federal spending and not afraid to pull off a stunt like this
CRUZ: Do you like green eggs and ham? I do not like them, Sam I am, I do not like green eggs and ham.
Cruz’s 2016 presidential bid faltered, when another candidate running as a Washington outsider got the better of him
TRUMP: Lying Ted, lying Ted,
TRUMP: He’s an anchor baby, Ted Cruz is an anchor baby
TRUMP: Sure sounds like Shakespere, right? Everything is always Shakespere. Even if he’s making a simple statement: ‘Im the only one’
Cruz and President Trump have made their peace
TRUMP: Beautiful Ted, beautiful, he’s Texas, I call him Texas Ted and now are closely aligned on the President’s agenda
CRUZ: The president is fighting to do what the American people want which is secure the border, build the wall and keep our country safe.
In a week marked by President Trump’s racially charged language
TRUMP: I look at Omar // [flash] I hear the way she talks about al Qaeda. Al Qaeda has killed many Americans. She said // when I think of al Qaeda, I can hold my chest out.
TRUMP RALLY, CROWD CHANTING: SEND HER BACK! SEND HER BACK! SEND HER BACK!
What does Senator Ted Cruz say now?
MARGARET HOOVER: Senator Ted Cruz welcome to Firing Line.
TED CRUZ: Margaret, great to be with you.
MARGARET HOOVER: You are now in your second term as a senator from the great state of Texas and you are a former presidential candidate. You also were a former solicitor general from the state of Texas and you rose to prominence initially amidst the Tea Party conservative uprising during the presidency of Barack Obama. You are a descendant of a Cuban, your father– You write very proudly and justifiably, I think, of the journey he took from Cuba to Canada and the great pains he — he took to become an American citizen. If someone told you to go back to where you came from what would you say?
TED CRUZ: To be honest, it happens every day on Twitter.
MARGARET HOOVER: People tell you to go back to where you come from.
TED CRUZ: Ya
HOOVER: How about that president. That person. How about if that person was the president was the United States?
TED CRUZ: Listen we live in sadly too coarse a world where, where everyone’s rhetoric is overheated and everyone needs to ratchet it down. But at the same time that’s probably not going to happen.
MARGARET HOOVER: So it feels like you’re you’re smoothing it over like you don’t believe the president of the United States has a special responsibility to set a tone and civility, a standard of civility for the country and for our rhetoric.
TED CRUZ: There are many things that President Trump says and tweets that I wish he didn’t say and I wish he didn’t tweet. I don’t have any control over that. By the way there are a lot of things the Democrats say in tweets that I wish they didn’t say and I wish they didn’t tweet. I think we all should get back to a time where we treated each other with, with civility and some degree of respect. That doesn’t mean you don’t disagree. I think we can have vigorous disagreement.
MARGARET HOOVER: And that’s what we try to do here at Firing Line. and it is relevant because it does pertain to policy because what the president says has a ripple effect. So President Trump tweeted on Sunday that progressive Congresswomen should quote, go back and help fix the totally broken and crime infested places from which they came. Do you understand why people think that was racist?
TED CRUZ: Listen, I have had a longstanding policy, that I don’t comment on tweets. I don’t engage in them. I’ll engage in substance, I’ll engage in policy view
MARGARET HOOVER: I want to ask you about the substance of it.
TED CRUZ: Okay, let’s talk about the substance of it.
MARGARET HOOVER: Do you understand why people think that was racist?
TED CRUZ: I understand why people’s rhetoric is overheated. I don’t think it should be.
MARGARET HOOVER: That’s not my question though. Do you understand why people think that was racist. — I’m not asking you don’t say the president is racist.
TED CRUZ: I’m not going to — I’m not going to engage in the back and forth on that.
MARGARET HOOVER: Why not?
TED CRUZ: What I’m happy to engage in is the substantive record. If you look at this, this freshman trio and they’re substantive record it is extreme it is radical it is I think quite harmful to the American people.
MARGARET HOOVER: But on the substance of whether it’s racist or not
TED CRUZ: I’m just not going to get into the food fight.
MARGARET HOOVER: So you’re so you’re not going because — look at the national even the National Review there are conservatives who are now starting to say look Democrats often play the race card and they play it incorrectly and erroneously. But when real racism does show up especially on our side It takes people on the conservative side to police their own. When you see real racism emerge Why not call it what it is.
TED CRUZ: Look, I think the media loves to scream racism on a daily basis.
MARGARET HOOVER: That’s what I just said. And Democrats do it too.
TED CRUZ: And that happens all the time.
MARGARET HOOVER: — But when it really happens. Why not call it out?
TED CRUZ: Look when when one of these freshman members of Congress, Congresswoman Tlaib was videoed saying that she had come to Washington to impeach the MF-er. As she’s screaming and she’s explaining that she was saying this to her young son. That rhetoric is not beneficial it’s not good — not positive.
MARGARET HOOVER: — I really appreciate that but she’s not the president. She’s not the president United States doesn’t have the bully pulpit of the presidency for both sides.
TED CRUZ: On both sides the rhetoric is overheated and by the way I’ve had I’ve had rhetoric directed at me from all sorts of players here. I — when someone comes after me and insults me and impugns my character personally, I try very hard not to respond in kind. I think we need to focus on substance so that’s that’s what I’m doing. So you can turn on cable news at any given time.
MARGARET HOOVER: So your position is that you will never call out the president the United States if he is in your party if you believe that if it has anything to do with racism. You don’t believe he has a special responsibility and you don’t believe conservatives have a special responsibility to help call out racism when it appears on our side.
TED CRUZ: I will. Well actually you can point just this week I spoke out very loudly because the state of Tennessee declared an official day, this last Saturday, to be Nathan Bedford Forrest day.
MARGARET HOOVER: You know I saw that and I thought it was so interesting because you’re exactly right. The first grand wizard of the KKK should not be celebrated every year in Tennessee.
TED CRUZ: No.
MARGARET HOOVER: That’s a very easy and safe position to take though, don’t you think?
TED CRUZ: Well, not look not necessarily to a Republican governor in Tennessee I got a lot of grief from a lot of folks that made
MARGARET HOOVER: Tennesseans don’t elect you fortunately, so you don’t have to worry about it too much.
TED CRUZ: But you know you know what. There weren’t a whole lot of other people standing out and leading on that. That, that I saw and it was offensive
MARGARET HOOVER:I want to go back to your unwillingness to call out the tweets that are clearly racist from the president who by the way he calls his tweets official government policy.
TED CRUZ: You know I’ll tell you part of the reason a lot of the American people have tuned out what goes on in the media is because people are obsessed about a bloody tweet.
MARGARET HOOVER: No, it’s not the media, it’s the president, Senator Cruz.
TED CRUZ: It really is the media because when I go home to Texas nobody asks about this stuff.
MARGARET HOOVER: But it’s what the president says, it’s not the media.
TED CRUZ: I’m telling you it’s the only thing the media talks about all day long. They obsess and you know what tomorrow the media will be obsessing over some other tweet the president says tomorrow and I’m not going engage in that one either I’m not going engage in the back and forth. You know what I’m much more interested in that we’ve got the lowest unemployment in 50 years. You know what I’m interested in. You want to talk about a racial issue. We have the lowest African-American employment ever recorded right now today we have the lowest Hispanic unemployment ever recorded you want to talk about making a difference in the lives of African-Americans and Hispanics, young people getting jobs building skills moving towards a career. That’s what I’m elected to focus on and I’m elected to fight
MARGARET HOOVER: — and that is fundamentally important and I think the question right is at what point does one outweigh the other. At what point is rhetoric from the Oval Office that is that is pointed and heated and racist abrogate the advances you make in economics but hold on. I just want it. Let’s just really quick. I want to put a button on this because I do want to move on to immigration and these other issues but. The president said from the South Lawn this the other day.
DONALD TRUMP (ON VIDEO): I mean I look at the one I look at Omar, I don’t know,I never met her. I hear the way she talks about al-Qaeda. Al-Qaeda has killed many Americans. She said you can hold your chest out. You can. When I think of America huhh when I think of al-Qaeda I can hold my chest out. When I hear the anti Semitic language they use when I hear the hatred they have for Israel and the love they have for enemies like al-Qaeda. Then you know what I will tell you that I do. I do not believe this is good for the Democrat Party.
MARGARET HOOVER: So do you wanna respond to that? I mean, here’s– here’s my– here’s my view. He’s exactly right about, and you have been right, about pointing out, on the progressive left, the emerging anti-Semitism. And I– I think you’re– you’re doing it very well.
You had a r– a resolution in the Senate that got all 100 votes. Th– they weren’t so successful in the House of Representatives. But then to say that a sitting member of Congress loves Al Qaida, with no evidence, and to say it from the South Lawn, has a ripple effect. Because three days later, at a rally in North Carolina, which I know you’re familiar– familiar with, we heard these chants. Let’s l– take a look.
DONALD TRUMP (ON VIDEO):
Omar has a history of launching vicious, anti-Semitic screeds.
AUDIENCE (ON VIDEO):
Send her back. Send her back. Send her back. Send her back. Send her back. Send her back. Send her back.
MARGARET HOOVER:
The president, later, said he didn’t agree with that. But he did let them chant for 13 seconds before saying anything. S– seeing that he said something from the White House lawn, and then it became a chant in a rally, you can see the effect and the power that the bully pulpit of the presidency has, when the president tweets, when the president speaks, and– and that– that people listen. And then it becomes embedded in our discourse. And it– and it challenges the character of our country.
TED CRUZ:
Look, I’ll tell you what challenges the character of our country. The president, in the news conference you just showed me, at– at the White House, was talking about a substantive record. If you look at these– these fresh– freshman House members, their record is radical and extreme.
When it comes to anti-Semitism, they keep putting out statements that– that are nakedly anti-Semitic. One– o– o– one of the freshmen tweeted out that– that– that– that Israel and supporting Israel is all about the Benjamins, okay? It– it– th– that was nakedly anti-Semitic. I think the video that he’s referencing there is a video that I’ve seen, talking about Al Qaida, where, to see a U.S. member of Congress–
MARGARET HOOVER:
But she does not say that she loves Al Qaida.
MARGARET HOOVER:
Do you agree with the president that she loves al-Qaida?
TED CRUZ:
Um I think the comments she has made about al-Qaida uh and about September 11th are deeply disturbing for a member of Congress to make.
MARGARET HOOVER:
So last question then. If you can denounce anti-Semitism so clearly. Why can’t you denounce the racism when it comes from the president.
TED CRUZ:
I don’t like the overheated rhetoric on either side. And I wish it would stop. I don’t engage.
MARGARET HOOVER:
But you’re not answering the question Senator.
TED CRUZ:
I am answering the question as I’m going to answer it.
MARGARET HOOVER:
So which is just to just to confirm you refuse to denounce the racism when it comes from the president. Even though you can denounce anti-Semitism.
TED CRUZ:
I under – I understand-
MARGARET HOOVER:
- justifiably
TED CRUZ:
Look I understand that the media is obsessed with calling the president a racist and it happens every day on every station and frankly
MARGARET HOOVER:
This is not the media. This is me.
TED CRUZ:
It gets tiresome. It gets tiresome. It really does that that’s the central focus. People good people get very tired of that.
MARGARET HOOVER:
Let’s move on to immigration and talk about the crisis of the border. You were recently at the border and you were somewhat of an early critic of the family separation policy. You described the images as horrific in some of the detention centers there.
I want to show you some of the new images from families taken just last month actually a border patrol station. This is in McAllen Texas. You see the families packed together here they are. You see families packed together sleeping on the floor some wrapped in mylar blankets. The government watchdog report said that there were dangerous overcrowding children had no access to showers and hot meals.
TED CRUZ: Well look what we’re seeing right now is is a humanitarian crisis. So those pictures you put up that’s the McAllen processing center I was there two weeks ago. at the time I was there it had over eleven hundred people in it. But the problem is Democrats in Congress have capped the number of beds that ICE has So normally you would move people out of that temporary holding cell into a longer term detention facility with better care with beds for example those places don’t have beds. which means that people are just getting stuck where they’re not meant to get stuck.
MARGARET HOOVER:
There – A five billion dollar appropriation was just passed that will increase the number of beds.
TED CRUZ:
Well but the Democrats insisted on a cap on the number of beds that they limited how it could be spent. So they literally made it so you can’t spend to put beds for those people you saw. And more broadly.
MARGARET HOOVER:
But you say the crisis is because of Democrats. Truly the crisis and because there are increased flows of immigrants coming illegally across the border.
TED CRUZ:
Undoubtedly-
MARGARET HOOVER:
Which isn’t because of the Democrats.
TED CRUZ:
It– it– it is– yes, it most directly is.
MARGARET HOOVER:
Okay, why?
TED CRUZ:
And let me– and let me tell you why.
MARGARET HOOVER:
Tell me why.
TED CRUZ:
So in the month of May, we had 144,000 people apprehended coming here illegally, 144,000. It is an absolutely crisis.
MARGARET HOOVER:
Then, there was a drop-off in June.
TED CRUZ:
There h– has been some drop-off in June–
MARGARET HOOVER:
A 40,000 drop–
TED CRUZ:
So– so I’m– I’m–
MARGARET HOOVER:
40,000 person–
TED CRUZ:
–encouraged by the drop-off in June. But the reason people are coming is because of the loopholes that Congress has put into the law.
MARGARET HOOVER:
Which loopholes, specifically?
TED CRUZ:
S– so in particular, the loophole is, if you bring a child, that child has to be released. And there’s a d– court decision called the Flores Case that mandates that, that that child has to be released within 21 days. So here’s what’s been happening.
We’re suddenly seeing adults, more and more adults, bringing kids. Because kids are, effectively, a get-outta-jail-free card. Let me give you a stat that I learned in McAllen, two weeks ago. In 2014, single adult males coming into this country illegally, roughly 2% of them had kids. Today-
MARGARET HOOVER:
More than 50%.
TED CRUZ:
–50% of them, single adult males, are coming with children. And– and I’ll give you a really s– chilling statistic. In the Rio Grande valley sector, they did a pilot test of rapid DNAs– of– of folks presenting as a family unit. Nearly 30% of those tested were found to be fraudulent family units, which means the adults were with kids they weren’t related to.
MARGARET HOOVER:
So if you could–
TED CRUZ:
And we’re seein’, I mean–
MARGARET HOOVER:
If you could draft–
TED CRUZ:
–little girls, little boys– being subject to abuse, physical abuse, sexual abuse– children being rented out by the cartels. This is horrific. And the critical point, mar– Margaret, is it is Congress’ fault. We could fix this tomorrow. But the democrats in Congress won’t close the loopholes and fix it.
MARGARET HOOVER:
First– so if you could draft a fix to the Flores Agreement, what would it be?
TED CRUZ:
So I have drafted that. And– and in fact, the legislation, I filed legislation that– that–
MARGARET HOOVER:
Which– which is a bill that would keep families together.
TED CRUZ:
Yes.
MARGARET HOOVER:
So but do you still believe families should be prosecuted, all individuals who cross the border illegally should be prosecuted?
TED CRUZ:
Absolutely, we should enforce the law. So the legislation I filed– let me explain. So family separation, w– we oughta be able to come together. Everyone ought to agree, republicans and democrats, that families shouldn’t be separated.
Instead, we’re gonna keep the family together in a secure, safe detention facility. And we’re gonna accelerate the processing. So my legislation doubled the number of immigration judges, put more– more resources. So if you have a claim for asylum, it gets adjudicated rapidly. And either if you meet the legal test for asylum, it gets granted. And if you don’t, it gets rejected. You get put on a plane and sent home. But either way, you do it quickly. And the reason that–
MARGARET HOOVER:
This would be, certainly, the most merciful and humanitarian approach to the– to the border, I– I believe. The question about loopholes, though, somehow, doesn’t pass muster. Because or– or maybe it d– it’s not the question about loopholes. But it’s this notion that it’s the democrats’ fault in Congress. Republicans had the Congress and the White House for two years (HORN) and did nothing. So how i s it only the democrats’ fault?
TED CRUZ:
So well–
MARGARET HOOVER:
Those loopholes could’ve been closed, when you all had control.
TED CRUZ:
No, not with– not with the filibuster they can’t. Today’s politics on immigration are so polarized, they’re so extreme. And– and part of that is driven by the Democratic Party is just consumed right now with hatred for Donald Trump. And– and– and on immigration that is driving them so wildly to the left that — that– that today’s Democratic Party embraces open borders.
TED CRUZ:
We had a whole back and forth in the Democratic debate about making crossing into this country n– illegally no longer a crime. That is the very definition of “open borders,” and– and that’s a reckless policy. But it’s– it’s where the Democratic presidential candidates are.
MARGARET HOOVER:
I’d like to move on to another part of your biography– that– that I think really helped you stand out when you first arrived to the Senate. And that was your strong– advocacy for fiscal discipline– as– as one of the pillars of conservatism. And you had no problem standing up to Mitch McConnell, and bucking the party.
MARGARET HOOVER:
We have added $2 trillion to the national debt since President Trump has been the president. Our debt is now 104% of GDP.
TED CRUZ:
Yep.
MARGARET HOOVER:
And OMB predicts– has projected that we’ll have a trillion-dollar deficit just this year. I don’t think you’d defend that record. Is -there– but– is– is there a piece of the old Ted Cruz that might really stake a claim to helping push the party back to a position of fighting for fiscal discipline?
TED CRUZ:
Listen, I am fighting for that every day. What we are doing with debt, and deficits, and spending is wrong and it’s immoral. We’re selling our kids and our grandkids down the river. Now, how do you address the debt and deficit? The most powerful tool to do it–
MARGARET HOOVER:
Entitlements.
TED CRUZ:
Well, no, no. Even more powerful than entitlements is economic growth.
MARGARET HOOVER:
Well, the economy is booming right now, but we haven’t done anything to pay for the Trump tax cuts.
TED CRUZ:
Well, see, that–
MARGARET HOOVER:
Right? So–
–
TED CRUZ:
–so that– so that’s not actually accurate. The most powerful tool to pay down the debt and deficit is for the economy to be booming. If you look at–
MARGARET HOOVER:
But we have to control spending.
TED CRUZ:
I agree with that. But b– b– between the two, economic growth is more important than controlling spending. I want to do both
TED CRUZ: Now, the problem is Congress is spending even more, that we’re not restraining on– on the spending. You have just been reelected as a U.S. senator. You have a new lease on life. You have six years before– you know, Donald Trump is gonna be out of office. You could frankly run for president again.
This could just be a way to reestablish yourself and reestablish the party around a principle that it has always stood for. And to that end I want to show you a clip from William F. Buckley on this program in 1989 with none other than the original conservative, Barry Goldwater. Let’s take a look.
WILLIAM F. BUCKLEY (VIDEO):
Let’s talk for a moment about– the difference in emphasis among conservatives 25 years ago and now on budget deficits. Has your thinking on that changed?
BARRY GOLDWATER (VIDEO):
No, and it never will. I am very old fashioned that way. So I think today the big problem is that balancing the budget has not disappeared from the conservative bible by any means. But it is not as strong as it used to be. We can continue to go to the bank and borrow money to live on. But someday, the banker calls up and says– “Barry– when you gonna pay that debt?” And I’m still– I’m still very, very concerned about the future of my country continuing to run a deficit.
MARGARET HOOVER: Have conservatives stopped caring about debts and deficits?
TED CRUZ: No, not remotely. But I will say the way I’m fighting is different today. And there’s a reason it’s different, ’cause it’s different circumstances. So the first four years I was in the Senate Barack Obama was president. And he was pushing really bad policies that were hurting this country.
My entire job changed January of 2017 because we had a Republican president, we had Republican majorities in both houses. I pulled my whole team together, and I said, “Our– our job is totally different. Now, our job is to deliver on our promises.
And and I think I’m in– an unusual, if not a unique position of being able to speak with real credibility to conservatives but also bein’ able to speak to moderates, to leadership, to the president, to the administration and get everyone to yes. Corral folks. You take something like the tax cut.
I spent thousands of hours trying to get 50 Republicans in the Senate to yes. And– and– and that tax cut has produced incredible results in the economy. Millions of people have jobs today because we cut taxes on– on working families, on small businesses. That’s benefiting the state of Texas. You know, incomes are going up all over the country, but the number one–
(OVERTALK)
TED CRUZ: –state for a family–
(OVERTALK)
MARGARET HOOVER: –better tax policy than California.
TED CRUZ: Undoubtedly. (LAUGH)
MARGARET HOOVER: I mean–
TED CRUZ: That’s why a thousand people a day move to Texas.
MARGARET HOOVER: There is a new book called American Carnage that’s out. And it has described the attitude of Fox News towards you as “pugnacious”– that you– it says– it quotes you saying that Roger Ailes, who was the founder of Fox News, beli– that you believed his dying wish was to help elect Donald Trump as president. Is that true?
TED CRUZ: I– I think Fox News went all in for Trump. That– that– that was the decision–
MARGARET HOOVER: Do you believe it was–
TED CRUZ: –they made.
MARGARET HOOVER: –Roger’s dying wish to help elect Donald Trump as president?
TED CRUZ: I– I didn’t know Roger w– well, but I think it– it clearly is what he wanted to do.
MARGARET HOOVER: Why did they prefer Trump?
TED CRUZ: –anonymous sources.
MARGARET HOOVER: Why did they prefer Trump?
TED CRUZ: No idea. I– I can’t tell you that, but I can tell you starting in about March of 2016 they went all in for Trump. And– and they made a decision– the was– a decision made at the network level reflected on every show.
MARGARET HOOVER: I wonder if you could– if you could handicap the Democratic presidential race, having been through a race yourself. How do you see the candidates? And– and who would you– who do you think is going to emerge?
TED CRUZ: Yes. I– I don’t think Joe Biden’s gonna be the nominee. I think the– the– the nominee is going to come from the far left. The three who I would say are most likely are Kamala Harris, Elizabeth Warren, and Bernie Sanders.
MARGARET HOOVER: What happened to Beto O’Rourke?
TED CRUZ: He– he– he has crashed and burned. I– I– you– you know, part of it is his base was the media. The media– when he was run–
MARGARET HOOVER:Well, he did get 48% of the vote.
TED CRUZ: When he was running against me, the media were enamored with him. They were like groupies at the Beatles concert. There was every week a different fluffy profile. The obligatory–
MARGARET HOOVER: So has the media–
TED CRUZ: –adjective that every–
MARGARET HOOVER: –fallen out of love with him?
TED CRUZ: Yes, that’s exactly what’s happened. The obligatory adjective they used for him was “Kennedy-esque.” I think where the Democratic primary is– their energy, their passion, their anger is on the extreme left. That’s why I don’t think Bide will be the nominee, ’cause he’s not where the party is. When I say the– the– the nominee is likely to be– Harris, or– or Warren, or Sanders, some Repub– (TAPE SKIPS) “Yay, okay. That’s great. They’re so extreme we win.” Look, not necessarily. For–
MARGARET HOOVER: So you believe that Donald Trump could be defeated?
TED CRUZ: Absolutely. I– I personally handicap the 2020 election– as a coin flip. I think it’s about 50/50. I want to see the president reelected. I’m working hard– to help the president get reelected. And I think he certainly can get reelected. But I think we’re gonna see staggering Democratic turnout in 2020.And the reason is, look, anger is a powerful motivator. And–
MARGARET HOOVER: Well–
TED CRUZ: –and– and the far left is pissed. They– th– th– they are enraged by Donald Trump. And it means they’re gonna show– show up, and the big–
MARGARET HOOVER: But–
TED CRUZ: –open question is: Does everybody else show up?
TED CRUZ:
And, senator, I mean, you know from your race Beto O’Rourke won 48%, and it wasn’t just the far left. It wasn’t just the progressives. He won moderates, and he won, you know, suburban women. And all these people are people who really are on the fence. Do they vote for Donald Trump again, or do they vote for the Democrats? (CLEARS THROAT) Do you think– I want to give you one more chance. Do you think that the rhetoric from the president is one of the things that is energizing the Democratic Party–
TED CRUZ: Of course.
MARGARET HOOVER: Then– and do you think it hurts his chances to be reelected?
TED CRUZ: Look–
MARGARET HOOVER: Do you th– I mean–
TED CRUZ: –the– the president regularly says and tweets things I wish he wouldn’t say.
MARGARET HOOVER: But does– is that–
TED CRUZ: I’ve said that–
MARGARET HOOVER: –what is going to do what you just said? That he will have–
TED CRUZ: He’s not– he’s not gonna change–
MARGARET HOOVER: –a hard time getting reelected–
TED CRUZ: He is not going to change. (THROAT CLEARING) He is who he is.
MARGARET HOOVER: I agree with that. But–
TED CRUZ: And– but– but I’ll tell you–
MARGARET HOOVER: –is it gonna make it harder for him–
TED CRUZ: –some– but I’ll–
MARGARET HOOVER: –to get reelected?
TED CRUZ: Look– I wish he would say things differently. I don’t have the power to change that. I can’t change that. What I can do is what I’m doing right now, which is fight for good policies, which includes the biggest tax cut of a generation–
MARGARET HOOVER: I’m gonna take that as a yes.
TED CRUZ: –the lowest unemployment. But– but it also includes– let’s take foreign policy for a second. So I engage–
MARGARET HOOVER: I’m gonna take it as a yes.
TED CRUZ: I engage very closely with this president on foreign policy. For example, urging him to move our embassy in Israel to Jerusalem. He did that. Republicans and Democrats had both broken their promises to do that. Urging him to pull out of the Iran nuclear deal. He did that.
MARGARET HOOVER: All these– all these things he’s going to run. But the question was: Does the rhetoric hurt him in his reelection bid? And because you didn’t answer it, I’m gonna take it as a yes. Thank you for being here, Ted Cruz. I appreciate it.
TED CRUZ: Thank you.
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ADDITIONAL FUNDING PROVIDED BY CORPORATE FUNDING PROVIDED BY STEVENS, INC.