Both have a pet issue with which to hit each other. Rubio is third and Cruz fourth. And while he did not mention GOP front runner Donald Trump by name during the speech, Kasich did reference Trump’s attacks on a number of groups and individuals, questioning Trump’s ability to be a leader.
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In an interview with Bloomberg Politics, Cruz assailed Rubio for backing the 2011 military action in Libya and supporting the arming of rebels in Syria. “Not interested… I am running for the top position and I think this election, the stakes, I don’t think they’ve ever been higher”.
“The terrorist attack that occurred in Benghazi was a direct result of that massive foreign policy blunder”, Cruz said during a drive eastward from a town-hall event near Iowa City to another in the town of Clinton. Cruz continued, receiving some uncomfortable laughter from the audience.
But pressed three times by ABC moderator Martha Raddatz, Kasich refused to definitively say if he would back Trump as the nominee, saying Trump is “not going to” be the nominee.
“Now you want to talk about a threat to national security – Marco Rubio and Chuck Schumer giving Barack Obama a blank check to admit as many Syrian refugees as he wants with no background checks”.
“And lets remember something, in the seven years after 9/11, during the Bush administration, we had no attacks on American soil after 9/11”, Christie said.
The Texas senator has previously refused to criticize the real estate mogul, so perhaps Cruz is taking a “keep your friends close, and your enemies closer” approach.
The movement toward Rubio appears to be as much about anxiety over the possibility of Cruz going up against Hillary Clinton as it is affection for the Florida senator.
“You can make the case that whenever he’s had to decide between the two (Christians and Muslims), he’s come down on the side of Muslims, and it has left our nation far more vulnerable”, he said. And there are Republicans – including Sen. That’s just part of the record.
“Last I checked, we don’t have a rubber shortage in America”, Cruz exasperatingly said to the rather boisterous crowd.
“I have been a conservative my entire life; I have never met anybody – any conservative – who wants to ban contraceptives”.
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During a campaign stop in Bettendorf, Iowa, Cruz was asked by an attendee about “making contraception available to women who want to control their own bodies”, according to a CNN report.
