Tapper to Cruz: Are You ‘Endorsing Conservative Intolerance’ by Attending Event with Activist...

Newsbusters ^ | November 5, 2015 | Curtis Houck

[Isara]

Tapper to Cruz: Are You 'Endorsing Conservative Intolerance' by Attending Event with Activist Pastor

Wrapping up his interview with 2016 Republican presidential candidate Ted Cruz on Thursday’s edition of The Lead on CNN, host Jake Tapper asked Cruz about the upcoming National Religious Liberties Conference he’s attending in Iowa this weekend and if Cruz is “endorsing conservative intolerance” since its organized by an activist pastor named Kevin Swanson.

Tapper arrived at his concluding question by providing background on Swanson and what he described as a history of “very inflammatory things about gays and lesbians” that included calls for Christians to “hold up signs at gay weddings holding up the Leviticus verse, instructing the faithful to put gays to death because what they do is an abomination.”

Watch the video at the link.

Even though the CNN host told Cruz that he doesn’t hold him “responsible for what other people say,” Tapper still wondered aloud to the Texas Senator: “[B]ut given your concern about liberal intolerance, are you not, in some ways, endorsing conservative intolerance?”

In response, Cruz emphasized that he’s unaware of “what this gentleman has said or hasn't said” before pivoting to where he personally stands on religious liberty:

I know that when it comes to religious liberty, this is a passion of mine and has been for decades and that I have been fighting for religious liberty for everyone. Fighting for religious liberty for Christians, for Jews, for Muslims, for every one of us to practice our faith. And in the last six and a half years under the Obama administration, we have seen an assault on religious liberty from the federal government.

Readers should be reminded that, back on October 16, Tapper started his much-anticipated interview with Hillary Clinton by asking her about what her husband and former President Bill Clinton told her right after the first Democratic presidential debate and what has she learned about him after 40 years of marriage together. 

While Tapper asked good questions later about Benghazi and Sidney Blumenthal, the substantive portions had already been torpedoed and destined to be overlooked with the softball on the wedding anniversary serving as the main soundbite of the interview employed by much of the mainstream media for that day going forward.

The relevant portion of the transcript from CNN’s The Lead with Jake Tapper on November 5 can be found below.

CNN’s The Lead with Jake Tapper
November 5, 2015
4:53 p.m. Eastern

[ON-SCREEN HEADLINE: #CruzOnCNN; Cruz to Attend Natl. Religious Liberties Conference]

JAKE TAPPER:  Quickly if you could, you are speaking at a conference this weekend, the National Religious Liberties Conference in Des Moines. It's organized by a guy named Kevin Swanson. You've been very outspoken about what you deem liberal intolerance of Christians, but Kevin Swanson has said some very inflammatory things about gays and lesbians. He believes Christians should hold up signs at gay weddings holding up the Leviticus verse, instructing the faithful to put gays to death because what they do is an abomination. I don't hold you responsible for what other people say, but given your concern about liberal intolerance, are you not, in some ways, endorsing conservative intolerance? 

REPUBLICAN SENATOR TED CRUZ (Tex.): Listen, I don't know what this gentleman has said or hasn't said. I know that when it comes to religious liberty, this is a passion of mine and has been for decades and that I have been fighting for religious liberty for everyone. Fighting for religious liberty for Christians, for Jews, for Muslims, for every one of us to practice our faith. And in the last six and a half years under the Obama administration, we have seen an assault on religious liberty from the federal government. You know, couple months ago I hosted a rally for religious liberty in Iowa had 2,500 people come out. The single biggest political event in the state of Iowa this year and we had nine heroes, people who stood up for their faith who just told their stories and it was powerful. You can go and watch those stories on our website, tedcruz.org and you know, the amazing thing is many in the media diminish threats on religious liberty say they're not real. What I tried to do in that event is withdraw myself and have the focus be on them telling their stories.

[Isara]

Gotcha question from Jake Tapper.

[Mr. K]

Just ignore him...

why does anyone even talk to these libtards in the media?

[cripplecreek]

A lot of people are attending the National Religious Liberties Conference but only Ted Cruz is attending with this guy?

LOL

[Timber Rattler]

False premise in your question, Jake. No bias there, obviously.

[PATRIOT1876]

BOO HOO!

Let Tapper cry on his great big pillow

[grobdriver]

Screw you libs.
Yes - I'm intolerant of Liberals, queers and terrorists.

What of it?

[Cowboy Bob]

What has “tolerance” ever achieved? It’s a lot like “affirmative action.” Pretty words that are destructive to the country.

[skeeter]

I dunno Jake, did Obama endorse leftist intolerance by attended the church of a black separatist, anti-semetic fanatic preacher for 20 years? Did you care?

[eyeamok]

Endorsing Conservative Intolerance??

Tolerance:
The Virtue of having a belief in Nothing!

[dowcaet]

Tolerance? Liberals are the most intolerant people in this country. You wonder why Trump and Carson are getting support out there? It’s because they fight back at the media and stick it in their faces. Don’t even talk to these clowns anymore. If I were Cruz I would have answered Tapper by asking him if he would ask Hillary and Bill if receiving all those millions in donations from many of these female intolerant Muslim nations to their “foundation” bothered them.

[smoothsailing]

Tapper is just another drooling leftist tool.

[BigEdLB]

The future Vice President in the Trump administration has a excellent memory for what is said to him. Tapper should tap lightly.

[Waryone]

"Tapper to Cruz: Are You 'Endorsing Conservative Intolerance'"

You mean as opposed to liberals' venomous hatred and intolerance of Christians, conservatives, gun owners and other so called bitter clingers...

[HoosierWordsmith]

CNBC is hiring!

[kingu]

I find it incredibly fascinating that only Christians can be intolerant, whereas you can buy snuff DVDs on the street in the Middle East (and Dearborn, MI, I'd expect) of men and women being murdered for being gay, Christian, or a woman who dared to show the slightest independence.

I think Cruz missed a great opportunity... “I'm sorry, did you ask this question of the last Muslim you interviewed? Christians aren't the ones lining up gays atop a building and casting them to the street below. Christians aren't the ones lining up people of another faith on a beach and having children slash their necks. The only religious intolerance I see is directed towards Christians, and I'm sick of it.”

[Moonman62]

A lot of people are attending the National Religious Liberties Conference but only Ted Cruz is attending with this guy?

The article says he’s the organizer.

[RatRipper]

No libtard media hack has ANY standing to accuse a conservative of intolerance . . . that level of hypocrisy threatens the world with instantaneous meltdown . . . libtard media hacks cause global warming. . . .

[cripplecreek]

Members of the Al Gore campaign were actually housed by the Fred Phelps family.

[Moonman62]

Here’s the website for the event.

http://freedom2015.org/

Swanson’s group is listed as sponsor as are many others. Look at the website and you can see this isn’t about any sort of intolerance or oppression. It’s about persecuted Christians. Tappers question appears way out of bounds.

[cripplecreek]

Ted Cruz is pretty impressive in how he deals with various groups of people.

A while back he attended an event held by some middle eastern “Christians” who turned out to be antisemites. He told them “If you don’t stand with Israel, I don’t stand with you.”