Turning the argument for why governors make better presidents than senators on its head, Ted Cruz said Monday that he has actually fought Obamacare while Scott Walker has just talked about it.
In an interview with conservative talk show host Hugh Hewitt, Cruz was asked if he would support the nuclear option against the legislative filibuster if necessary to repeal Obamacare. When the Texas senator began to say this was unnecessary, Hewitt interjected that Walker, a likely rival for the 2016 Republican presidential nomination, had committed to do just that.
“But you know what’s interesting, Hugh, it’s easy. Talk is cheap,” Cruz replied, saying the Wisconsin governor didn’t back his efforts to defund Obamacare.
“I mean, I would note that when Mike Lee and I were fighting tooth and nail to stop Obamacare, that a number of politicians, including Governor Walker, were publicly criticizing us for doing that,” he continued.
“So when you’re campaigning for president, it’s easy to talk about what you’d do against Obamacare. But I think every one of the candidates should be asked not what would you do but what have you done,” Cruz added.
Walker said that if necessary he would support changing Senate rules to allow a simple Senate majority to repeal Obamacare rather than the 60-vote threshold required to break a filibuster in a response to a question from Hewitt at the Western Conservative Summit Saturday night.
The governors seeking the GOP nomination have all said that their jobs prepared them to get things done while senators like Cruz just give speeches. Cruz, who has pledged not to avoid slinging mud at his primary opponents, is using the Obamacare fight to make the opposite argument.
“There is nobody in this race who has fought harder, who has fought longer, who has invested more blood, sweat and tears, who has endured more vilification, standing up to Obamacare, than I have,” Cruz told Hewitt Monday. “And there is nobody who is campaigning harder every single day.”
While Cruz didn’t name names, he also said of other declared presidential candidates, “A whole bunch of them don’t even mention the word Obamacare” in their announcement speeches.
