Ted Cruz shows class in dealing with hecklers

Among the huge and ever-growing list of Republican candidates for the 2016 presidential election, I still can't figure which one has what it takes to get the nomination.

But a video I watched this week of Ted Cruz certainly elevated him in my opinion as a classy and capable candidate.

He was speaking to about a hundred people, including the media, across the street from the White House on Thursday at an event organized by the conservative group Concerned Women for America.

When the junior U.S. senator from Texas began speaking about the nuclear deal with Iran, he was shouted down by a number of liberal protesters from a group called Code Pink.

What was so impressive to me was how Cruz handled the interruptions. As he began to speak the protesters tried to drown him out by shouting, to which he replied, “It is very interesting to see those who profess to believe in free speech are the ones afraid of speech,” Cruz shouted back.

He wasn't rattled. He wasn't angry. In fact, he invited some of the protesters to debate him on the Iranian nuclear deal in front of the cameras, beginning with Code Pink co-founder Medea Benjamin. As she came up to the microphone, Cruz asked her, “Will you ask your colleagues to be quiet? We can have a discussion.”

After listening patiently to Benjamin's comments in support of the Iran deal without interrupting her, Cruz said, “Thank you, ma'am. And I respect your right to speak. But let's have some dialogue.”

He went on: “If this deal goes through over $100 billion will flow to Iran that they will use to fund Hamas, Hezbollah, the Houthis and radical Islamic terrorists. Those billions of dollars will be used to fund jihadists who will murder Americans and murder Israelis.”

Cruz spoke about his opposition to the deal for more than 20 minutes, especially criticizing the White House for not arranging the release of four American prisoners.

The conservative supporters in the crowd held signs showing the faces of the American prisoners, while Code Pink protesters displayed pink signs that said “Peace with Iran” and “Support Nuclear Deal With Iran.”

As Cruz continued to speak, another Code Pink protester tried to shout him down on a bullhorn. Cruz asked him to come to the microphone as well.

“Moving on, what we need to know right now is how are we going to get to this point where we're assured that everyone feels safe and comfortable. Not with threats of 'they're going to kill us all.' Let's just figure this out so we can make this work.”

“And sir, I will respond to you now,” said Cruz. “This is how civilized people have discourse. They don't yell and interrupt each other. I heard you out, and now I'm going to respond. You said, 'Why should we discuss history?' Well there's an old adage: 'Those who fail to learn from history are doomed to repeat it.'

“The last ineffective weak president we had, Jimmy Carter, wrung his hands in impotence while our hostages languished in Iran,” Cruz said. “This president, like Jimmy Carter, is leaving four American hostages in Iran.”

If you're looking for a candidate who is “presidential” I think Cruz made a pretty good case for himself.

You’re correct, I misread the beginning of the second line below.

He did shut her up, and left her with no response.

Here’s a more accurate description of the conversation.

“Those billions of dollars will be used to fund jihadis that will murder Americans, that will murder Israelis, that will murder Europeans. Does that make any sense?” Cruz asked.

“No, that doesn’t make any sense,” Benjamin responded, insisting that only the nuclear agreement reached between world powers will stop Iran from building a nuclear weapon.

“What you have been pushing for is going to lead us to war,” she said. “Diplomacy, just like we saw the flag up in the Cuban embassy, that’s diplomacy at work.”

As Cruz attempted to rebut Benjamin’s points, she tried to interrupt and shout over him.

“Ma’am I did not interrupt you, so I would ask you to show me the same courtesy,” Cruz said, eliciting an apology from Benjamin.

“You did not respond to the irrefutable point that this deal with send over $100 billions dollars to Iran and those billions of dollars will be used to murder Americans by jihadists,” Cruz explained.

“I recognize that the folks in CODEPINK like to hold up signs saying, ‘Peace with Iran.’ You know who doesn’t reciprocate those views? Iran,” Cruz said, to cheers.

“In the midst of this negotiation, the Ayatollah Khamenei led thousands of Iranians in chanting death to America while they burned American flags and Israeli flag,” Cruz continued to more applause. “Iran has stated its objective to murder as many Americans as possible. They are not seeking peace with us.”

“This deal is a complete capitulation to radical Islamic theocratic zealots who want to murder millions of Americans,” Cruz added, again to rousing cheers from those in attendance.

Others, at one point, chanted, “We want Ted.”

CODEPINK’s Benjamin responded to Cruz, by accusing him and the anti-nuke deal activist of being “religious zealots” who want to see “a war in the Middle East.”

“It’s the radical religious zealots on both sides who don’t want the deal,” Benjamin said to boos.

One man could be heard shouting, “What planet is she from?”

Cruz went on to take Benjamin to task for insulting the crowd.

“I will say, is it true there are radical religious zealots elsewhere. Of course. The difference is nobody is proposing giving radical religious zealots nuclear weapons to use to annihilate people who have a different faith then they do,” Cruz responded.

This led another CODEPINK ally to scream and shout at Cruz.

“Sir, are you scared to have a conversation?” Cruz fired back at the protestor. “Are you scared of the truth?”

“Sir, I recognize you find the truth very offensive, but under the first amendment, debate means you have to listen to things you disagree with,” Cruz added over the man’s shouts. “And I have listen to what you have said. I would ask you to show the same courtesy, particularly since you have come to our event and crashed it.”

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