In a secret recording, Ted Cruz admitted that he doesn’t really believe what he is trying to sell to Republican voters and that if elected president, a Cruz administration would not fight same-sex marriage. He also backed off of his positions on issues like abortion and common core.
Politico released more of the secret tape of Ted Cruz talking to donors at a New York fundraiser, and it confirmed what many have long suspected. Sen. Cruz is faking it to get elected.
According to Politico:
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During the question period, one of the donors told Cruz that gay marriage was one of the few issues on which the two disagreed. Then the donor asked: “So would you say it’s like a top-three priority for you — fighting gay marriage?”
“No,” Cruz replied. “I would say defending the Constitution is a top priority. And that cuts across the whole spectrum — whether it’s defending [the] First Amendment, defending religious liberty.”
Soothing the attendee without contradicting what he has said elsewhere, Cruz added: “People of New York may well resolve the marriage question differently than the people of Florida or Texas or Ohio. … That’s why we have 50 states — to allow a diversity of views. And so that is a core commitment.”
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A well-known Republican operative not affiliated with a 2016 campaign said by email when sent Cruz’s quote: “Wow. Does this not undermine all of his positions? Abortion, Common Core — all to the states? … Worse, he sounds like a slick D.C. politician — says one thing on the campaign trail and trims his sails with NYC elites. Not supposed to be like that.”
Ted Cruz’s top priority has always been advancing his own career, so it isn’t much of a surprise that the positions that he is selling Iowa, New Hampshire, and South Carolina aren’t the same as what he is telling people behind closed doors.
Hold on to your hats, because it turns out that Ted Cruz plays fast and loose with the truth.
Anyone who has followed Cruz’s rise already is well aware that the senator from Texas has treated facts like an unnecessary detail; the secret tape is devastating for his presidential campaign because it undermines Ted Cruz’s trustworthiness with his own voters.
What may work in Cruz’s favor is that he can attack the messenger and claim that the Politico story is more media bias and proof that the press is out to get him, but a tape of his own voice denying the same positions that he is selling to conservative voters across the country is devastating.
Ted Cruz is a fake. He is exactly what he has been telling socially conservative Republican primary voters that he isn’t. Sen. Cruz is nothing more than another ambitious DC insider who say whatever he needs to say to get elected.
Jason is the managing editor. He is also a White House Press Pool and a Congressional correspondent for PoliticusUSA. Jason has a Bachelor’s Degree in Political Science. His graduate work focused on public policy, with a specialization in social reform movements.
Awards and Professional Memberships
Member of the Society of Professional Journalists and The American Political Science Association
