Ted Cruz’s top foreign policy adviser Victoria Coates thinks rival Republican presidential candidates fundamentally misunderstand the Texas senator’s stance on foreign policy.
In an interview with the Washington Examiner, Coates declined to describe Cruz with the shorthand terms that dominate foreign policy discussion, and would only label Cruz “Reagan-esque.” She said Cruz’s approach is distinct from either Florida Sen. Marco Rubio or Kentucky Sen Rand Paul, who are among Cruz’s harshest critics on the campaign trail and stand on opposite sides of the foreign policy divide within the Republican Party.
“We have some of our competitors calling the senator isolationist. That’s detached from reality, in my opinion,” Coates said. “I think as Senator Cruz looks at the projection of American strength around the planet, he would be, like Reagan, extremely reluctant to commit force — but at the same time would build up our strength so our enemies, more hostile nations, less friendly nations would know that he had both the tools and the determination to do what’s necessary to defend our country.”
Coates highlighted Cruz’s stated opposition to the Obama administration’s intervention in Libya as emblematic of what differentiates Cruz from former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton and “some of our competitors” who supported the intervention, in an apparent shot at Rubio.
“It’s a little frustrating to me when people say, “Oh you know, Ted Cruz hates freedom and embraces dictators.” Absolutely not,” Coates said. “If we decide that we as a nation have an obligation somehow to the international community to labor for everyone’s democracy, I think that we’re going to risk not focusing on protecting and celebrating the wonderful new democratic friends that we have.”
Coates’ route to becoming Cruz’s senior foreign policy adviser is certainly unusual. Her writing for RedState, a conservative website, caught the attention of former Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld. She worked for Rumsfeld and later for former Texas Gov. Rick Perry, before joining the staff of Cruz’s senate office.
She has a Ph.D. in art history, and is the author of the new book David’s Sling: A History of Democracy in Ten Works of Art, which is hitting bookshelves as just as Cruz is canvassing the country. She argues that society should learn from artwork produced to commemorate previous democratic experiments so as to not repeat past mistakes and, in turn, promote the values of Western Civilization.
Coates said she ensures that Cruz hears different viewpoints from those that he and his advisers espouse, which she added is something the Texas senator has made a top priority on the campaign trail. Unlike Donald Trump, when Cruz wants advice on national security issues he does not turn on the television, he looks to Coates.
