This post has been corrected.
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Sen. Ted Cruz, R-Texas, has long spoken of Israel as Christians’ greatest friend in the Middle East, as he did on Wednesday. So it shouldn’t come as a surprise to learn that there exists an fundraising ad that underscores the Texas Senator’s support for unity between Israel and Christians.
One Cruz fundraising pitch that circulated online Friday afternoon left many questioning whether Cruz’s joint fundraising committee was cashing in on his recent appearance at a gala event hosted by Middle Eastern Christians.
Cruz cut short his speech this past Wednesday at the event hosted by In Defense of Christians, a group dedicated to the protection of Christian communities in the Middle East, after he was booed over comments about Israel. His words in that speech were, “Today, Christians have no greater ally than the Jewish State.”
A fundraising page highlighted on Friday by Rod Dreher at The American Conservative contained a similar but different quotation – “Christians in the Middle East have no greater friend than Israel.” This led many, including this author, to believe that a political arm of the Texas senator was cashing in his recent pro-Israel speech.
But here’s the thing: The line cited in the supposedly questionable ad is something Cruz has actually used for several months.
Cruz spokeswoman Catherine Frazier told The Washington Examiner that the online fundraising page was generated by search terms involving the senator, his speech and Wednesday’s event.
“The ad is something that’s completely separate from his remarks and his speech the other night,” she said. She said the ad started to appear recently on various social media platforms because of news-cycle-related search terms.
“The ad was made separate from the event. The reason it went up is because it was relevant to very high-ranking search terms that were related to Ted Cruz’s name,” she added.
