Ted Cruz: 'We Are At A Time Of War' With Radical Islam

Republican presidential candidate Sen. Ted Cruz (R-TX) tells the Republican Jewish Coalition (RJC) that America must define its enemies, stand by its allies, and fight against radical Islamic terrorism.

Cruz began by asking the crowd to observe a moment of silence for the victims of the terrorist attack that occurred in San Bernardino, California, on Wednesday.

Its “another manifestation of radical Islamic terrorism here at home,” Cruz said. “This horrific murder underscores that we are at a time of war, whether the current Administration is willing to acknowledge it, our enemies are at war with us,” he added.

The Republican Senator from Texas castigated President Obama’s strategy against radical Islam. Our strategy “should be very simple: We win. They lose,” he said, borrowing the words of former President Ronald Reagan.

Cruz recommended three things we should do to keep the nation safe

“Speak the truth,” Cruz said as his first objective. We need a President that will speak the truth and describe actions committed by jihadis as “radical Islamic terrorism,” he added.

“When it comes to speaking the truth, this administration does the opposite,” he said, adding the Obama White House gives a justification for terror. Cruz recounted the time after a Jordanian pilot had been burned alive by Islamic State radicals, and shortly thereafter, President Obama argued that terrorism was a tactic shared by all religions. Then when Secretary of State John Kerry said the terrorist attack in Charlie Hebdo was “understandable,”

Cruz recounted how when Kerry described Israel as an “apartheid state,” the Texas Senator called for his immediate resignation, saying his remarks “undermine our allies.”

He talked about how he discussed the Iranian nuclear deal with Elie Wiesel, a bestselling author and Holocaust survivor, who reminded him, “never again is never again.”

“We need a President that will stand unapologetically with the nation of Israel,” Cruz asserted.

He pledged that on his first day in office, he would begin the process of moving the American embassy to Jerusalem, Israel’s capital city. It now sits in Tel Aviv. Cruz received a standing ovation from the crowd for his pledge. “In a Cruz administration, any university that supports the BDS movement” will find its federal funds removed, Cruz said of the movement that seeks to boycott and delegitimize the state of Israel.

The Obama-led effort to topple the government of Libya was a mistake, Cruz said.

Cruz discussed his policy on jihadists: “If you wage jihad against the United States of America, you will sign your death warrant.” 

He pledged to “rip to shreds” this “catastrophic Iranian nuclear deal.” “When the [Iranian dictator] Ayatollah Khamenei burns American and Israeli flags, I trust him that he means it,” he said. “President Obama, like [Neville] Chamberlain, has come back from Iran promising peace in our time.” 

President Obama needs to tell Khamenei: “Either you will stop your nuclear weapons program or we will stop it for you,” he said.

Concluding his remarks, before the Q & A, Cruz received another standing ovation from the crowd. 

Republican Jewish Coalition Executive Director Matt Brooks asked Cruz what differentiates him from another first term Senator who ran for President, the current White House occupant, Barack Obama. Cruz responded, saying Obama is “an unmitigated socialist who won’t stand up and defend the United States of America.”

“As Republicans we have to nominate a President who is as committed to conservative principles as Barack Obama” is to his, he said.

Distinguishing himself from Democratic candidate Hillary Clinton, Cruz said he opposes the former Secretary of State’s positions on Obamacare, the Iran nuclear deal, and other issues.