Ted Cruz on Donald Trump’s Muslim Ban: ‘I Understand Why Donald Made that Proposal’

GOP presidential candidate Sen. Ted Cruz (R-TX) said he understood why GOP frontrunner Donald Trump proposed a ban on all Muslim immigration into the United States until a proper vetting process was in place.

Cruz was asked how exactly he disagrees with Trump’s Muslim ban by the moderator during Tuesday night’s GOP presidential primary debate hosted by CNN in Las Vegas, Nevada. He replied:

We’re looking at a president who’s engaged in this double speak where he doesn’t call radical Islam and terrorism by [its] name. Indeed, he gives a speech after the San Bernardino attack where his approach is to try to go after the constitutional rights of law abiding citizens rather than to keep us safe and even worse, President Obama and Hillary Clinton are proposing bringing in tens of thousands of Syrian refugees into this country when the head of the FBI has told Congress they cannot vet these refugees. I understand why Donald made that proposal. I introduced legislation in the Senate that I believe is more narrowly focused at the threat, which is radical Islamic terrorism. What my legislation would do is suspend all refugees for three years from countries where ISIS or al Qaeda control substantial terrority.

The moderator asked for clarification, questioning whether Cruz believes his proposal is more narrow than Trump’s.

“I’m reminded of what FDR’s grandfather said. He said all horse thieves are Democrats, but not all Democrats are horse thieves,” Cruz began his response. He concluded, “In this instance, there are millions of peaceful Muslims across the world in countries like India where there is not the problems we are seeing in nations that have territories controlled by al Qaeda or ISIS, and we should direct at the problem, focus on the problem, and defeat radical Islamic terrorism. It’s not a war on faith, it’s a war on political and theocratic ideology that seeks to murder us.”