Sen. Ted Cruz on Wednesday cast front-runner Donald Trump as an establishment candidate who’s already positioning himself to cut deals with Democrats.
“Donald is publicly bragging about how all the big establishment players are getting behind him, and his criticism of me is he said I went to Washington and actually stood up and fought in Washington and Donald has said, well, the problem he has with me is that I won’t go along to get along in Washington,” the Texas senator said in an interview Wednesday night with Fox News’ Sean Hannity.
“He’ll go along to get along,” Cruz said. “I’ve got to tell you Sean, you know the conservatives across this country, I don’t think the problem with Washington is we haven’t had enough Republicans willing to cut deals with the Democrats.”
Cruz said Republicans and Democrats cut deals daily, such as the “horrible omnibus bill that funded a trillion dollars, funded all of Obama’s big government priorities.”
“And the establishment seems to have made a determination Donald Trump’s a guy they can make a deal with who will continue the cronyism and corporate welfare and bailouts for big banks,” he added. “And I think that we’re seeing conservatives getting behind us, and we’re seeing the Washington establishment getting behind Donald Trump, interestingly enough.”
Cruz also criticized Trump for supporting Democratic policies in the past, adding that Trump and Sen. Bernie Sanders “have basically the same healthcare plan.”
“Donald Trump enthusiastically supported the [Troubled Asset Relief Program] bailout of big banks. I opposed it. He enthusiastically supported Barack Obama’s stimulus plan. He thought it should have been bigger. I think it was a disaster and a waste of money. Actually, Donald not only supported both of those, but he argued that Obamacare should be expanded to make it socialized medicine for everyone,” Cruz explained.
Cruz refused to criticize Sarah Palin and her decision to endorse Trump, saying that he “wouldn’t be in the Senate without her support.” He said regardless of her 2016 decision, he “will remain a big, big fan of Sarah Palin’s.”
“And I do think the decision of who is a consistent conservative, who’s the genuine conservative, that’s a decision that’s going to be made by the men and women of Iowa, by the men and women of New Hampshire and South Carolina and the states that are voting,” he added.
With less than two weeks until the first-in-the-nation Iowa caucuses, Trump leads Cruz, 34.8 percent to 18.8 percent, according to a RealClearPolitics average of polls. Cruz leads Trump in the Washington Examiner‘s presidential power rankings.
