Ted Cruz said he believes next month’s Wisconsin primary will change the 2016 race in each of the remaining Republican nominating contests.
Cruz campaigned in Wisconsin on Thursday, and made a visit to the hometown of House Speaker Paul Ryan. The Texas senator also lauded the state’s governor, and labeled the state a battleground in the primary.
“Here in Wisconsin, we are effectively tied with Donald Trump for first place — the latest polling shows us ahead by one point,” Cruz said. “Now the entire country is looking to Wisconsin. Wisconsin has a national platform, a national megaphone … And a victory here in Wisconsin will have powerful national repercussions, will impact each and every primary coming up after this.”
The senator sought to persuade Wisconsinites with a message of limited government at home and aggression abroad. He pledged that in a Cruz administration, the United States will not negotiate with jihadists, and “If you are waging jihad against America, we are coming to kill you.”
Cruz’s wife, Heidi Cruz, introduced the senator onstage after a day that featured non-stop news coverage of Donald Trump mocking her physical appearance. The Cruzes appeared together in Janesville, where the senator began his speech by praising her; a marked contrast from his scathing remarks earlier in the day directed at Trump.
The senator will campaign in Oshkosh, Wis., on Friday.
