Texas Sen. Ted Cruz says he will not “bargain away” certain rights in order to cut deals with Democrats in Congress if he is elected president.
“We’ve had too many deals in Washington. It’s why we’re bankrupting our kids and grandkids,” Cruz told ABC’s George Stephanopoulos on Sunday.
That’s an attempt by Cruz to distance himself from Republican presidential front-runner Donald Trump, a billionaire businessman who says he will cut deals if elected to the White House.
“I am not going to compromise on the Bill of Rights,” Cruz said. “I’m not going to bargain away your religious liberty. I’m not going to bargain away your Second Amendment rights and sit down with [Senate Minority Leader] Harry Reid or [New York Sen.] Chuck Schumer and agree on Supreme Court nominees,” Cruz said.
Critics fault Cruz for leading the way to a partial government shutdown over Obamacare in 2013. Even many Senate Republican colleagues fault Cruz for using obstruction and speeches to promote himself.
Cruz says that bad blood results from his uncompromising stand on conservative principles.
“We need a president who will invest the political capital to defend your — your constitutional liberties,” Cruz said. “And Donald Trump told us at the debate he doesn’t intend to do that.”
Cruz suggested that because Trump would be more open to cutting corners on Constitutional rights, he’s better liked by top Democrats.
“There’s a reason Harry Reid, when asked about the Republican field, said the Republican he likes the best is Donald Trump, and he said, ‘because I can work with him. He’ll cut deals,'” Cruz said.
On the conflict between Israel and Palestine, Cruz said he stands apart from Trump.
“It was striking at the debate this week when Donald Trump disagreed with me. He disagreed with me, number one, on Israel. He said that America should be neutral between Israel and the Palestinians. I strongly disagree with him on that,” Cruz said.
Trump calls himself pro-Israel and defended his neutral standpoint at Thursday’s debate, explaining that picking a side when trying to settle the conflict would jeopardize the deal.
“If I am president, America will stand unapologetically with Israel,” Cruz said.
