Posted on 11/13/2015 9:01:08 AM PST by Isara
Ted Cruz tore into Marco Rubio on Friday in the latest skirmish in their campaigns' growing battle over immigration policy - in particular, the Texas senator's past support of the H1-B visa program, calling the Florida senator's suggestion that they held similar views on the issue "laughingly, blazingly" false.
"Yesterday, Marco had a fairly remarkable comment in that he suggested" that their positions were the same, Cruz recounted on Mike Gallagher's radio show, alluding to Rubio's comments Thursday, in which the Florida senator said, "Ted is a supporter of legalizing people that are here in this country illegally. In fact, when the Senate bill was proposed, he proposed legalizing people that were here illegally, he proposed giving them more permits."
Rubio aides have been tweeting out links aimed at buttressing the argument over the last 24 hours.
"I have to admit that I laughed out loud at that," Cruz said, adding that Rubio was a friend. "But that statement was truly stunning. That's like Obama saying my position is the same as his on Obamacare. That's like Ayatollah Khamenei saying my position is the same as his on the Iranian nuclear deal."
"It is laughingly, blazingly, on its face, false," Cruz declared, saying later that if he were elected president, "the H1-B visa program will not be used to replace American workers," and if it is used to do so, companies will face serious consequences.
On Thursday, Cruz told radio host Laura Ingraham that Rubio rejected "every single one" of his amendments to the 2013 Gang of Eight's failed immigration plan, which Rubio helped author, including one that would have increased the number of H1-B visas for highly skilled workers.
Cruz said on Friday that his position on immigration has always been clear.
"When Chuck Schumer and Harry Reid and Barack Obama joined with a handful of establishment Republicans to push the massive Gang of Eight bill ... it was a gut-check moment," Cruz said, one "that revealed exactly what someone believes."
Donald Trump, whose call to deport millions of immigrants in the United States illegally has powered his rise in the polls, has made not to be left out of the Cruz-Rubio, fracas, taking multiple digs at the Florida senator's immigration stance on Thursday night.
In an interview on CNN's OutFront, Trump told host Erin Burnett that Rubio was in favor of immigration reform because of his Hispanic background. "That's why he wants amnesty," he said.
"He was always in favor of amnesty, he was always in favor of letting people pour into the country, then what happened is, when people found that out, he sank like a rock in the water."
And during a campaign stop in Fort Dodge, Iowa, on Thursday night, Trump said, Rubio was "weak like a baby" on the issue.
Speaking on CNN Friday, Trump confidant Michael Cohen defended Trump's immigration plan.
"He supports legal immigration. What the problem is, is that you have too much going on where nothing has been done for too long. He needs to stop the situation. You need to evaluate quickly, which is what Donald Trump does better than anyone, and he needs to figure out how to fix it," he said. "That's what somebody needs to do, and the only one who's capable of doing it is Donald Trump."
Rubio is a disgusting liar. I despise this weasel as much as Hillary. Anyone who works in tech knows what’s going on too.
The gang of 8 backstopped by the gang of 535 has put us where we are today. Talk. ZERO action, ZERO enforcement, ZERO representation. The invasion continues unabated. Talk.
Words and deeds BUMP!
Rubio is the GOPe guy now that Jeb has tanked.
Bring on the popcorn.
The only people who believe that Cruz is for “immigration reform” are those who WANT to believe he’s for immigration reform.
Because the facts simply do not bear that out.
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