You have to look back at what was happening at the time. It only appears confusing now...but then it was not.
Rubio and the Gang of 8 were trying to pass clear amnesty legislation and the Dems were doing it to get the vote of the new citizens. Cruz was exposing that.
So he proposed an amendment that said in essence, “okay, if you do this, you simply have to put in the bill that these new citizens cannot vote.”
He knew they would vote it down and thus expose their true agenda.
And they voted it down and Cruz was able to use that to help defeat the overall bill.
Now, that action and what he said to try and get the amendment passed is being used against him. And the people using it know this full well...but hey, its politics.
In the end either Cruz or Trump would be very good for the country. Cruz knows what Trump is doing and he knows why.
I believe any rancor is feigned...Cruz was smart back then and played the game wisely to defeat a bad bill. Trump is wise now and playing the same game.
This is always a problem for Senators...they have to take votes! Cruz was trying to sell his poison pill amendment and appeared to be supporting amnesty at that moment in time...however, the amendment was responsible for flushing out the real intent of the Gang of 8 and led to the demise of the comprehensive package!
I have to admit that it was confusing and opened Cruz up to this kind of attack by Rubio, now Trump.