Posted on 11/16/2015 9:09:01 AM PST by Isara
'I believe Ted Cruz is the candidate that's the answer to my prayers,' King said.
Iowa Rep. Steve King on Monday endorsed Ted Cruz, a coup for the Texas senator who is seeking to gain ground with the first-in-the-nation caucus state's conservative activists, with whom King is deeply influential.
He made the announcement at a press conference in Iowa and in a video released on Twitter.
"I believe Ted Cruz is the candidate that's the answer to my prayers," King said. "A candidate whom God will use to restore the soul of America."
Cruz beat King to his own announcement, tweeting out an endorsement video as the congressman's address got underway.
"I am beyond honored to receive Congressman @SteveKingIA's endorsement," he tweeted.
King, an immigration hardliner who did not endorse in 2012, has been heavily courted this cycle by candidates vying to consolidate the conservative base. Recently, for example, he embarked on a pheasant hunt, an annual tradition, with candidates including Cruz, former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee, Louisiana Gov. Bobby Jindal and former Pennsylvania Sen. Rick Santorum.
But he has long been thought to favor Cruz. His son is involved in a super PAC that backs the senator, and the two have appeared together frequently at events in Iowa. At the press conference, King made the same case that Cruz frequently makes to potential supporters and donors: that the senator can energize Christian conservatives and bring together a coalition that also includes libertarians and other grassroots activists, and that Cruz - with the most cash on hand of any Republican in the field - has the money to go the distance.
"Victory requires that he energize Christian conservatives for large turnout," King said. "Some said that didn't happen four years ago ... we can't have that again. [The candidate has] got to be able to inspire Christian conservatives."
Cruz currently lags behind Donald Trump and Ben Carson in Iowa, and in some polls, he also trails Marco Rubio. Carson in particular has cut into the evangelical base that would otherwise be expected to favor Cruz.
But the senator has been ramping up his organizing in the state, embarking on an effort to tap a supportive pastor in each of Iowa's 99 counties and pledging that he will hit each county - known as the "Full Grassley," for an activity undertaken by Iowa's senior senator - by the time the caucuses hit on Feb. 1. Later this week, he and several other Republican presidential candidates will attend a cattle call hosted by prominent social conservative Bob Vander Plaats, whose pending endorsement, along with King's, is thought to have the most sway over Iowa conservative activists. Cruz has already secured the support of radio host Steve Deace, another prominent voice among the state's conservatives.
Asked about Carson, who is leading among Iowa's evangelicals, King said that the former pediatric neurosurgeon's lack of political experience was troubling.
"I can't quite say there's any intellect superior to Dr. Carson" in the 2016 field, he said, but, "the zone of Washington, D.C. is not an area he's familiar with. That gives me pause. You need to know what's going on in that organism to do something about it."
That’s amazing.
Steve King - a mainstream American, circa 2008 - is now a “hardliner”.
What does that make Barack Hussein Obama - the most radical anti-American statist and lawless “President” we’ve ever had?
Oddly I don’t see Politico using incendiary words to describe him.
Hard liner.
Ooh.
I wonder who they’ve called a soft liner?
“Hardliner.” Are there any hardliners in the Democrat Party?
Can you imagine the hysteria if any Talk Show Host or Fox News refereed Hillary Clinton, or any other extreme Leftist Democrat as a “Hardliner”.
She is very conservative, loves the USA, would nuke the bad guys, never quits, loves God, {she might be a little batshyt crazy, but for a third choice, that ain't too bad} I could live with Wifey/Cruz ticket.
Send me money and I'll start a Wifey/Cruz superpac, but I keep the first $2.75 Million for personal expenses. You have been warned.
You should ping people when you talk about them. My first choice is Cruz. Second is no one.
But Obama isn’t a hardliner, he’s mainstream. /s
Yeah..love the headline..it could've been worse..
Iowa Starver of Children Steve King endorses Ted Cruz
Iowa Cancer Causer Steve King...
Iowa Inventor of Earthquakes Steve King...
Politico: Republican = hardliner.
As the failed smear of Ben Carson clearly shows, Politico is just another DNC mouthpiece.
Ted Cruz’s debate performance has shown him to be much more articulate than any of the other hopefuls. I hope he get’s the nod
Grown ups have already chosen Ted Cruz.
Let’s us not forget General Dolittle and his squadron lead a raid over Toyko about 6 months after Pear Harbor to show the Japanese that they ain’t untouchable and that America was just getting started to finish what the Japanese started.
OK, it was 4 months after Pear Harbor in April 1942.
Dolittle’s Raid over Tokoyo.
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