Texas Senator Republican presidential candidate Ted Cruz criticized the RNC for its debate structure and defended his record of accomplishments in the Senate on Thursday’s “Special Report” on the Fox News Channel.
Cruz, after criticizing the way CNBC handled the Republican presidential debate was asked, “Do you think the RNC is at fault for how this debate structure has been put together?”
He answered, “Sure, because the Democratic debates are primarily moderated by liberals, and the Republican debates are primarily moderated by liberals. So, they have — it’s the same people, by and large, and they have different objects. In the Democratic debate, they get a ton of love from the moderators and it’s all praising the different candidates, avoiding too much clash. On the Republican side, you look at an awful lot of the media interviewers, their object is, whoever the Republican nominee is, to beat up on them, and to have people either stay home, or vote for Hillary Clinton.”
Cruz added that he has no problem with tough questions, but “let’s have a debate that’s actually useful. So, for example, last night, I suggested how about having a debate moderated by Sean Hannity, and Mark Levin, and Rush Limbaugh. Now, I think Republican primary voters would really like to see that those are strong rock-ribbed conservatives, they’re going to be voting in a Republican primary, and they’re going to ask questions that would actually help people determine who has been the strongest conservative, who has been consistent. … Why would our primary debates be moderated by people with an agenda of defeating whoever the Republican nominee is?”
After Cruz criticized the debt ceiling deal, while advocating for increased defense spending offset by cut elsewhere, Cruz was asked a Twitter question about whether he had accomplished anything in elected office or could get along with his own party.
Cruz answered that the premise is right because he doesn’t go along to get along. Anchor Bret Baier said Cruz has led many fights in the Senate, but many of the things he’s fought against are still around such as Obamacare and immigration. Cruz pointed to his opposition to the Gang of Eight bill, which was defeated. Cruz then said, “Blocking something that is bad, that is harmful, is good.” He further pointed to the successful opposition to the post-Newtown gun control efforts that he said he led.
Cruz also argued that his criticism of the Obama administration for cancelling flights to Israel caused the press to question the State Department, and the pressure became so that the White House lifting the ban.
Cruz was also asked about fellow Republican presidential candidate Florida Senator Marco Rubio’s vote attendance record. Cruz responded, “I’m not interested in the back and forth and fighting.” He further said that Rubio is “exactly right” that every senator who runs for president misses votes, and that the media only seems to notice with “Republicans they don’t like.”
He continued, “I will say, that there are choices for whether you show up to important fights. So, for example, let’s take the last debate, the CNN debate that was in California. The next day was the vote on the Iran nuclear deal. Now, both Marco and I had fundraisers scheduled all day in California that next day. I drove from that debate to the airport to take the red eye commercial flight all night, to be here to vote against the Iran nuclear deal, because I’ve been leading the fight against it. I ended up skipping all of my fundraisers in California.”
When asked if he was saying the quality of the vote matters, Cruz stated, “being there for major fights, whether it is to stop amnesty, whether it’s to protect our Second Amendment, whether it is stop the Iranian nuclear deal or whether it is to lead the fight against Planned Parenthood, that was another vote that, and it’s not even just the votes, you know, the question that i think primary voters are asking, is when have you actually stood up and taken on Washington?”
Follow Ian Hanchett on Twitter @IanHanchett
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