Rick Tyler, a former spokesman for Sen. Ted Cruz, said the conservative Republican is “right in the middle” along the political spectrum between the Right and the Left.
He made the comment during a conversation Wednesday about Cruz’s general election matchup against Democrat Beto O’Rourke, both of whom won their respective primaries on Tuesday, adding that the senator is akin to “a moderate Texan” and “pretty strong for re-election in Texas.”
Former Cruz Spokesman Rick Tyler says Ted Cruz would only be considered “far-right” in San Francisco or New York, but in Texas, he is considered to be a moderate. pic.twitter.com/JP7QlAF9iP— Ryan Saavedra ???????? (@RealSaavedra) March 7, 2018
MSNBC’s Katy Tur asked if a “liberal man” can win in Texas, to which Tyler said he “doesn’t think so today.”
Tyler, who was a spokesman for Cruz’s 2016 presidential campaign, said some people claim Cruz is “far-right or ultra-right,” a notion Tyler dismissed as only being true in liberal bastions like San Francisco or New York City, but not in Texas.
Cruz himself addressed the media’s “narrative” that Texas is about to turn blue during an interview on CNN on Wednesday.
“In Texas at least, there are a lot more conservatives than there are liberals,” he said. That comment came after he received more than 1.3 million votes out of more than 1.5 million GOP votes cast in his primary contest, versus O’Rourke winning his party’s primary with only 641,052 votes, out of just over 1 million votes cast for Democrats.
“In Texas last night, we had a strong turnout for conservatives; it was really encouraging,” Cruz added.
