Ted Cruz added two more right-wing leaders to his list of endorsements today, with the latest coming from Iowa conservative stalwart and president of the right-wing group Family Leader, Bob Vander Plaats.
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According to attendees of the fundraiser who spoke to the New York Times, Cruz said that the terrorist attacks in San Bernardino, Calif., and Paris have “given a seriousness to this race” that makes the “question of judgment” a crucial one. Speaking at the Heritage Foundation, a conservative think tank, Cruz stood by his closed-door framing of the race without directly repeating his critique of Trump.
Back in September, Trump was quoted as having declared “I love Muslims”.
The verbal jabbing between the two candidates had escalated after Cruz, a Texas senator, was caught on tape criticizing Trump’s judgment and and readiness to be President.
Trump has repeatedly made false or dubious assertions, such as his debunked claim to have seen thousands of Muslims in New Jersey cheering the 9/11 attacks.
Overall, 32% say they support Trump (up 6 points since September), with Rubio a distant second place with 14% (up 5 points).
In public, Cruz has been careful not to antagonize Trump, since he hopes to attract his supporters should Trump ever slide.
Trump also suggested on Twitter that Cruz will “fall like all others”.
Cruz has sought to downplay the comments, calling the report “misleading, but issued a statement placing emphasis on the “judgment” of the other candidates”. Once he hits me, I promise you.
It was hatched with Cruz’s steadfast unwillingness to judge Trump after he memorably charged that some Mexican immigrants were rapists. “The oil companies give him a lot of money, but I’m with you”.
Ted Cruz drew his sharpest distinction yet with Donald Trump on Tuesday, saying he disagreed outright with his proposal to ban Muslim immigration to the United States.
The Cruz campaign declined to comment on Trump’s remarks.
“More data from millions of law-abiding Americans is not always better data”, Cruz said. “I would say lots of different reasons, I could have done it, it was semi-scheduled”.
Businessman Donald Trump and the man on his heels in the polls, Sen.
The problem for Cruz, said Kondik, is that gaming out a race with more than a dozen candidates is ridiculously complicated.
Dole, the party’s 1996 Republican presidential nominee, said in an interview with MSNBC that former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush, who’s been polling consistently in the single digits, is the “most qualified” to be president.
Trump’s personal attack mirrors a previous joust at one-time top Iowa rival Ben Carson, who is a Seventh Day Adventist.
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The rally was held in a large exhibition hall on the state fair grounds, which was far too large for the roughly 1,500 people who attended.
