Posted on 01/16/2016 9:18:45 AM PST by Isara
FORT MILL, S.C. — Ted Cruz, long reluctant to directly criticize Donald Trump, threw caution to the wind Saturday as he ripped his Republican presidential opponent as a fake conservative.
"Donald’s record does not match what he says as a candidate," told reporters before a national security forum here at a church, delivering an assessment of the onetime ally in the race that would have been unthinkable as recently as last week. "I recognize what Donald says on the campaign trail today is fairly conservative, but voters are discerning."
Cruz went on to respond to a serious of critical tweets earlier Saturday morning from Trump by questioning his judgment and temperament to be president. The senator suggested Trump's tweets were caused by a new poll that show him beating the survey-obsessed billionaire in a head-to-head match-up.
"That has got to drive him nuts, and I imagine it sent him out of bed this morning tweeting and tweeting and tweeting," Cruz said. "I think in terms of a commander in chief, we ought to have someone who isn’t springing out of bed to tweet in a frantic response to the latest polls."
"I think the American people is looking for a commander in chief who is stable and steady and a calm hand to keep this country safe," Cruz added.
Cruz also wondered aloud why Trump had reacted angrily to comments Cruz made a day earlier blasting the policies of New York Democrats. The two candidates have been tangled over Cruz's use of the phrase "New York values."
“It does raise the question of, 'OK, if you are offended at my pointing out how much the failed policies of Hillary Clinton and Andrew Cuomo and Bill de Blasio have hurt New Yorkers, then which of those policies do you agree with?" Cruz said. "Given the fact that for much of his life, Donald was financially supporting those politicians, writing checks to Hillary Clinton, writing checks to Andrew Cuomo, it’s a fair inference that he supports their policies."
Cruz added he was especially surprised that Trump would object to the idea of "New York values" because "he's the one who laid out this analysis" in a 1999 TV interview. In the interview with Tim Russert, Trump repeatedly attributed his liberal stands on some issues to the fact he is from the solidly Democratic Empire State.
Cruz continued to sketch a number of other contrasts with Trump, bringing up gun and property rights when pressed to detail policy differences with the billionaire. Asked to say where he differs with Trump on national security, Cruz flatly replied, "To be honest, I don't know what Trump's position is."
Cruz's remarks to reporters in Fort Mill represented the sharpest escalation yet in his rhetoric against Trump after months of refusing to attack the billionaire. Asked why he was now raising the Tim Russert interview, for example, Cruz suggested it all began with Trump's questioning of his eligibility to be president due to his Canadian birth.
“Well, it came up initially in response to Donald playing 'Born in the USA' in his rallies," Cruz said. "I made a quip that perhaps he ought to play 'New York, New York,' and Donald got very upset with that."
Cruz and Trump were set to cross paths later Saturday in Myrtle Beach, where they are both set to speak in the afternoon at a tea party convention.
Wow. Deluded much? Karl Rove much prefers Trump to Cruz.
What? Well, it was Trump's version of what conservative means to him.
He likes abortion and has supported Planned Parenthood. When asked about partial birth abortion he didn't flinch in his endorsement of abortion and being a confirmed "pro-choicer."
When Donald Trump says he is a conservative we gotta look at what he has said in the past.
He has everyone convinced he is going to make America great again. How? By getting the Mexicans to built a wall?
When he says that about America do you notice that it is always in reference to HIM making America great again, not you and me?
Ronald Reagan he is not.
He did. Over and over again. To voters in Iowa.
A “fake conservative”?
Interesting.
What is a real conservative then?
Someone who votes for the Corker Bill?
Just politics as usual.
I don’t think Trump is a fake conservative because I don’t think he has been advertising himself as a conservative at all. Rather than market himself under someone else’s brand label he has been marketing himself as Trump. He has attacked GOPers for being fake republicans, but the case there is self-evident.
Exactly. Trump is Trump. He’s not running a fairy tale social conservative agenda that he has no chance of getting through Congress. He isn’t running against the “Washington Cartel” raking in millions from them and casting votes in support of their agenda. There’s only one hypocrite here doing those things and it’s Ted Cruz.
“Trump is a PRO American populist”
That’s why this line of attack wont be effective.
I agree. Between this unmasking Trump’s liberalism, his birtherism attacks are going to ultimately make him look foolish as lawsuits are filed and dismissed.
Only Trump can destroy himself and he’s on his way.
Trump would though. He claims he is an evangelical in Iowa, waving a bible about and whatnot, then turns round and gets into bed with the mafia back in New York.
That doesn’t sound too good on the surface, if as presented.
I’m a bug at trying to see the positive side of something, and he might be trying to mix religious and political roles. Hoping to come across in person as something less than a monster to this pair in iniquity. God could have a deeper plan. “Gay” at heart is miserable, and the sunshine of Christ can burst through those shadows and offer a better way to go. Bringing in politics might hurt that, but I don’t know if it would totally kill it, just make the situation more difficult.
I’m guessing Cruz’s attacks on Trump are the results of internal polling
in Iowa showing Cruz losing ground.
He’d stop tweeting if it didn’t get reactions... some folks need to look in mirrors.
Wow. Deluded much? Karl Rove much prefers Trump to Cruz.
“Trump is a liberal” is all you’ve got left. Your candidate is done. Down 6 points since the debate to Trump. Time to take your ball and go home. Or to Canada I suppose.
He presented conservative proposals — NOT the same as presenting himself as conservative. He was, and remains, open to the deal.
Cruz miscalculated the New York Values dig.
Cruz, the Princeton and Harvard educated lawyer, has too many connections to New York for him to really pull this off with credibility.
Only Trump can destroy himself and he’s on his way.
Trump is up 6 points on Cruz in the new Reuters poll. Any more “destruction” and he will have the nom wrapped up.
You can say that again.
_________________________________
Trump: "I think its fine. I think its fine, but we should have made a better deal"...
"The concept of opening with Cuba is fine."
A Better Deal with Cuba, says Donald Trump
Humberto Fontova | Jan 16, 2016:
________________________________________
"The US presidential hopeful Donald Trump has praised North Korea's despotic leader Kim Jong-un, saying the way he executes his political opponents shows "he's the boss".
-snip-
After coming to power when he was 28, Kim cemented his rule through a series of purges, including the execution of his uncle Jang Song Thaek.
"You've got to give him credit," Trump said. "How many young guys - he was like 26 or 25 when his father died - take over these tough generals, and all of a sudden - you know, it's pretty amazing when you think of it."
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TRUMP: Vladimir Putin's praise is 'a great honor'
Business Insider ^ | December 17, 2015 | By Maxwell Tani
Republican US presidential front-runner Donald Trump is apparently "honored" that Russian President Vladimir Putin considers the real-estate magnate a "flamboyant" and "very talented" man.
"It is always a great honor to be so nicely complimented by a man so highly respected within his own country and beyond," Trump said in a statement, according to Politico.
He continued: "I have always felt that Russia and the United States should be able to work well with each other towards defeating terrorism and restoring world peace, not to mention trade and all of the other benefits derived from mutual respect."
(Excerpt) Read more at finance.yahoo.com ...
________________________________________
"I think that I would probably get along with him [Putin] very well."
--Donald Trump, CBS' Face The Nation, Oct 2015
You wish.
" Trump's relationship with Russia goes far back. In 1987, before the collapse of the Soviet Union, he was meeting with Soviet officials and negotiating the building of "luxury hotels" in Moscow and Leningrad .
A story at the time said Trump had met Soviet Ambassador Yuri Dubinin, who mentioned how much his daughter had admired the "opulent" Trump Tower in New York City. This led to an invitation to Trump to visit the USSR. The story said Dubinin wrote a letter to Trump, who hosted a meeting with Soviet officials in New York.
The invitation to Moscow was issued by Intourist, the giant Soviet in-country travel organization which operated all the hotels for foreigners in the Soviet Union.
Intourist was created in 1929 by Joseph Stalin and run by KGB officials. Intourist hotels were designed for wealthy foreigners, and virtually all the Intourist guides were KGB informers. In fact, one aspect of their jobs was the recruitment of foreigners. ..."
"...we are left thinking [whether] Trump understands the aggressive intentions of Vladimir Putin.
"...when Trump was asked about the nuclear balance with Russia during the most recent Republican presidential debate, he displayed ignorance of the decaying nature of the U.S. nuclear triad, which constitutes our ability to deter and survive a Russian nuclear first strike.
"Putin has just presided over a ceremony honoring the KGB's successor agencies, and the Russia Today (RT) propaganda channel has announced the grand opening of a "cultural center" dedicated to mass murderer Joseph Stalin.
It looks like Putin has outmaneuvered Obama and Trump. It is an opening for Trump's opponents, especially Senators Ted Cruz (R-TX) and Marco Rubio (R-FL). But do they have the courage to "follow the money" and hold Trump accountable for doing business with a criminal regime that threatens the survival of the United States? At the end of this money trail, they may find an explanation of why Trump is so reluctant to hold Putin responsible for his crimes.
Follow Trump's Money to Moscow
Renew America ^ | December 25, 2015 | Cliff Kincaid
http://www.renewamerica.com/columns/kincaid/151225
So by your reasoning Hillary is no longer tells lies?
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