Ted Cruz on NBC: Republicans are Acting like Democrats

Ted Cruz appeared on NBC’s Meet the Press yesterday to discuss the state of his campaign with moderator Chuck Todd. Cruz condemned his own party, claiming they are acting like Democrats. He highlighted our country’s need for a president who will stand up to Washington and gave a shout out to Trump for helping his own campaign. 

Chuck Todd began the interview with a question: “The best path for you as the Conservative would be to win over the voters that are supporting Donald Trump and Ben Carson right now. How do you do that?”  

Cruz’s response was positive. “Conservatives [are] coalescing behind our campaign” every day, said Cruz, making it a point to mention that he is one of the few who hasn’t gone out of his way to “smack” Donald Trump. In fact, he considers Trump’s campaign “beneficial” to his own because Trump has “framed the central issue of this Republican primary as ‘who will stand up to Washington?’ Well, the natural follow up, if that’s the question, is who actually has stood up to Washington?”

As a presidential contender, Cruz is confident that he has what it takes to go head to head with “the Washington cartel,” including the GOP establishment. “The truth of the matter,” said Cruz, “is Republican leadership are the most effective Democrat leaders we’ve seen. They’ve passed more Democratic priorities than Harry Reid ever could.” 

Cruz mentioned that current GOP leaders, especially those in the Senate, are actually “making it easier for Barack Obama and Harry Reid to add trillions in debt.” Even after John Boehner’s resignation announcement, however, Cruz says he would not go so far as to ask Mitch McConnell (Senate Majority Leader) to step down. 

Ever since his initial election into the Senate in 2012, Ted Cruz has earned a certain reputation by showing that he will fight for his agendas no matter what the consequence. The Texas Senator had a leading role in the 2013 government shutdown over Obamacare. 

This year, as Congress prepares to discuss the national debt limit, Cruz says he’d like to see “Republican leaders fight for something, for Pete’s sake. Anything.” 

Cruz has made a promise to fight “outta control spending and the debt that is bankrupting our country, to stop Obamacare, to protect our nation,” should he be elected president. 

Cruz believes that people “want someone who’ll just do what he said he would do…it ain’t that complicated.” He believes much of his campaign’s success is thanks to the fact that people are “furious” with today’s government. 

Unfortunately recent polls do not support Cruz’s positive outlook. According to the most recent NBC News online poll, Cruz remains tied for fourth place with just 6 % of the vote.