Texas Sen. Ted Cruz touted his victory over the ethanol industry in Monday’s Iowa caucuses as proof he can stand up against Washington cronyism if elected president.
“I campaigned in the state of Iowa four-square against the ethanol mandate, something everyone said was political suicide,” said Cruz in giving closing remarks at Saturday night’s GOP debate in Manchester, N.H.
“My two leading competitors both attacked me for it. The governor of the state said to vote for anyone but Cruz, and lobbyists spent millions of dollars in attack ads,” he added. “But I stood and said we should have no mandates, a level playing field, and the people of Iowa put country and our children above the cronyism and corporate welfare.”
Rival Donald Trump chimed in immediately following Cruz’s closing remarks with a zinger, saying Cruz won in Iowa because he stole rival Ben Carson’s votes.
“That’s because he got Ben Carson’s votes, by the way. But we won’t say anything,” Trump said. The short zing caused an immediate uproar of booing from the audience.
Early on in the debate, Cruz spent a good deal of time apologizing for misinformation spread by his campaign, which said Carson was retiring from the race after Iowa. Cruz blamed an errant report by CNN for the problem.
