Posted on 11/30/2015 10:47:24 AM PST by GonzoII
Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Texas) reiterated at a town hall in Iowa on Monday that he doesn't believe Donald Trump will be the Republican presidential nominee, as the rising Texas Republican moves against the GOP front-runner he was once loathe to criticize.
The Huffington Post reports:
.@tedcruz - "I don't believe @realDonaldTrump is going to be our nominee, I don't think he will be our president." pic.twitter.com/idXBixu1rb— Samantha-Jo Roth (@SamanthaJoRoth) November 30, 2015
Cruz has repeatedly declined to criticize Trump, acknowledging that he's going after the same primary voters who have been energized by Trump's outsider bid.
"I think in time, I don't believe Donald is going to be the nominee and I think, in time, the lion's share of his supporters end up with us," Cruz said in October.
At the Monday event, The Texas Tribune reports, Cruz said the media would like to see a "cage match" between the two, but that he has "consistently declined daily invitations" to go after Trump.
Citing a Krauthammer column, a man presses @tedcruz on why he has not called out @realDonaldTrump.— Patrick Svitek (@PatrickSvitek) November 30, 2015
Still, there are signs that Cruz is preparing to make his move against Trump with only two months to go before the Iowa caucuses.
Last week, Cruz split with Trump after the real estate mogul openly mulled a national registry for American Muslims.
"I'm a big fan of Donald Trump's but I'm not a fan of government registries of American citizens," Cruz said in Iowa, according to Politico. "The First Amendment protects religious liberty, I've spent the past several decades defending religious liberty."
And on immigration, Cruz told the Associated Press earlier this month that "tone matters" and that "there some in the Republican Party whose rhetoric is unhelpful with regard to immigration."Â
Cruz did not mention Trump specifically in that interview, but said again that he doesn’t believe Trump or retired neurosurgeon Ben Carson will be the party's nominee.
Buzzfeed on Monday flagged an interview with a Texas radio host from a couple of weeks ago in which Trump said he and Cruz have a “good relationship.†However, Trump also sought to diminish Cruz by saying that he "backs virtually everything that I said."
"He's a good man," Trump said. "He's a conservative guy. He's doing pretty well. He’s doing pretty well. Fortunately, he's not doing as well as I am, but these are minor details. He's doing pretty well and he's said wonderful things about me and he actually backs anything I do, because we have similar views."Â
"He's not doing this out of a weakness, he's doing this out of a strength," Trump continued. "He backs virtually everything that I said - wouldn't you say? I mean, virtually everything that I've said he's backed."Â
The jockeying comes as Cruz has been on a steady upward trajectory in the polls.Â
Cruz has surged into third place in Iowa, cutting into Carson's lead among Evangelicals in the state, and moving into third place at 18.3 percent, according to the RealClearPolitics average.
Why sugar coat it? I support registering all Muslims in the US. It would be the beginning of getting all them all out of here. They have declared war on America. An enemy within our borders is considered seditious, a saboteur or a spy. Why keep them? Islam is after all an ideology, not a race.
I believe you're exactly right.
Well, Cruz sure won’t be.
Good point.
Talk about arrogance. So, Cruz will get Trump supporters huh? I used to think I would vote for Cruz if Trump didn’t get the nomination, but now I think I will sit out 2016 if he doesn’t. I can’t stand that Cruz thinks he is the smartest man in the room or the world for that matter. He goes to the Senate and tries to tell the others what they should or shouldn’t do - as a junior Senator. Of course, they are going to resent him. He can hold true to his principles, and should, but when you have a wet-behind-the ears junior Senator trying to be the expert on everything - it causes resentment. Sure, the majority of them are RINOs, but, Cruz thinks he is the expert on everything.
According to Real Clear Politics average, Cruz is in third place, 6 points ahead of Rubio and less than 2 points behind Carson. Expect Carson’s numbers to come down. He is still benefiting from earlier polls when he was higher.
Why did GWB come out last month and say what he said about Cruz? Has anyone figured that one out yet?
I think it's well pointed that Trump is going to be the nominee and will go on to beat down, Hillary, if obuma doesn't throw her under the bus before then, or Sanders, who would want a ‘commie’ in the White House and the horrible job the ‘muslim’ has done...
GO TRUMP GO!!!
Yes, it was GWB who called him an opportunist. Now, I don’t know why he said that except that he worked in the Bush Administration, and possibly, knows him better than we do.
No, sweetie, she doesn't mean Mark Levin.
You should read his book and educate yourself about a true conservative, rather than throwing insults, as is your usual schtick .
As a teenager, Cruz was involved with a student group that traveled all over Texas, giving lectures on the Constitution. But the time he graduated, he had quite a lot of them under his belt.
Has Trump ever mentioned the Constitution?
Exactly. My family and everyone we know are voting for Trump. We’re not even considering Cruz. I know people say they don’t trust Trump, but we don’t trust Cruz on illegal immigration. Can’t see him deporting the illegals that are already here on any large-scale. We actually think he would be more of a compromiser than Trump. He said himself that his greatest weakness is trusting people too much. We don’t need that in the White House right now, Christian or not.
“Last week, Cruz split with Trump after the real estate mogul openly mulled a national registry for American Muslims.
....
“And on immigration, Cruz told the Associated Press earlier this month that ‘tone matters’ and that ‘there some in the Republican Party whose rhetoric is unhelpful with regard to immigration’.”
Not helpful, Cruz. Trump was right on both occasions.
There is a term for your comment - delusional. So, Trump is spending millions of his own dollars so Cruz can win? Gee, what a generous guy. He flies all over America on his own dime, gives chopper rides to kids, holds rallies with thousands and thousands of people, and then - voila - he steps out and hands it to Cruz on a sliver platter. What is wrong with you? Trump is too financially literate to dos uch a stupid thing.
He’s going to make the constitution great again or something like that
Why, yes, Mrs. Cravettes, he has. Trump was right on the 14th Amendment, and Cruz was wrong. SO, why don’t you educate yourself, and no, I won’t buy his book. You sure are one nosy woman, aren’t you? Oh yes, Trump has also talked about the 1st, 2nd, and 10th Amendments as well. As I said - educate yourself before you point a busybody finger at anyone else.
Trump did NOT call for a registry of US citizens. Cruz is mouthing the willful misinformation of the MSM. If anyone should know better than to do that, it should be Cruz. Big mistake. Yuugge.....mistake.
I was a Ted Cruz man from day one, but have concluded he is unelectable, and now I am behind Trump. I am also disturbed By his wife’s role in the planning of a North American Union and common north American currency.
LOL
How am I nosy? Because I responded to you on a public forum?
Do you need a safe space?
Before Trump announced I thought the same on Cruz until I started researching him, then when I found that about his wife and Goldman Sachs and then when Trump announced, that's where my 100% support lays....
GO TRUMP GO!!!
The left is just salivating. Wow! Cruz just “attacked” Trump by saying that Trump will not be president.
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