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.
Trump would be wise to avoid a fight with Cruz. Nobody in either party’s slate can match Cruz’ intelligence.
He has say it to his supporters. I can think of a few right here who pooh pooh the idea of Cruz being Trump’s VP even though there maybe a good chance of it.
Trump would need to do something mongo stupid, and so far that has not happened.
Being the fellow that cares personally about America has given him a lot of mileage already. America might forgive more errors from him than from someone who says his menu already is what America ought to have.
If Cruz angers Trump he won’t be offered ambassadorship to Canada.
Trump kidded about being Batman. Well, here’s Robin...
“Why would you think Cruz is laying a second-to-none grassroots campaign in order to be Trump’s second?
Cruz is in this to win.”
Exactly. Cruz has been playing a long-game strategy, and we’re about to see it unfold.
Lol. He's got to stay in the race and fight, Trump won't tolerate a quitter as VP.
Sure Batman and Robin.
No, you do. Cruz has yet to take out anyone. Trump has done the job of doing that.
My theory is that Trump has no intention of actually becoming POTUS. I think he is just running for the fun of it and as a way to get the establishment riff raff out of the running and/or clear a path for Cruz, since he has refrained from critizing him.
Well, he’s the possibility thinker. From his point of view, if his road serves up the Oval Office, he’ll take it.
You could interpret that as “I’m confident I am going to win”, not a jab at Trump.
I suspect that many who are paying slight attention to the race aren't yet aware of the organization and grassroot support Cruz has built. Although the clandestine nature helps it grow strong and develop the structure necessary to be effective, it's easily missed by those who get their news from the MSM, YouTube, etc.
Many conservatives say that Barry distracts with one hand while the other is doing something behind the scenes that the left doesn’t want us to see.
It’s a tactic worth pondering.
Cruz would make a good President. I don’t think he has the pizzazz to get it done this election round.
I really believe the only thing stopping Trump is the GOPE and the Media. It’s a dance. Hopefully, Trump will railroad right over them.
I really like this Aria of Trump - even if the guy made it to make fun of him
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Goz0PJbdURM
The dude is larger than life.
Yes, Trump has been drawing crowds. Don’t assume, however, that all of those people will show up to vote for him.
I think we can safely assume that if Cruz was getting these massive rallies, you wouldn't pretend that an inability to fill a massive venue everyday like what Trump is doing isn't a sign of a lack of energy in a campaign.
Here’s the thing with me about TRUMP and CRUZ, and I speak for many that I know personally who support TRUMP, and it comes down to 3 simple but very impacting points......
1. The entire rest of the candidates, by nature of their either ‘political’ background, or ‘other’ background... have absolutely NO CREDIBILITY nor the FORCEFULNESS as to what they say they are GOING TO DO once they become President.
2. The only ones that have sufficient CREDIBILITY and FORCEFULNESS are TRUMP and CRUZ.
3. Of those two, only 1 has the BUSINESS EXPERIENCE to demonstrate that CREDIBILITY and FORCEFULNESS!
That’s basically it. Pure and simple.
Teaching the constitution at age 14? Wasn’t he a Canadian citizen? I think you mean Mark Levin. Wow, some of you think Cruz walks on water. Peter tried that too.
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