Ted Cruz: ‘Tonight, Donald Trump Had His Strongest Debate Performance of the Election Cycle’

Senator Ted Cruz (R-TX) is providing a review of the first presidential debate on Facebook:

Tonight, a clear contrast was drawn between the two nominees. Tonight, Hillary Clinton made it clearer than ever that if elected President, our future will continue on the same path that is hurting millions of Americans.

If Clinton is elected, we know that the havoc Obamacare is wreaking on American families, on small businesses, and on our healthcare system will continue. We know that President Obama’s relentless efforts to crush the oil and gas industry and to wage war on coal will continue. We know that the Obama administration’s willful blindness to radical Islamic terrorism and the influx of unvetted refugees from nations infiltrated by terrorists will continue. We know that President Obama’s lawless executive amnesty will continue and even expand.

If Clinton is elected, we know that a liberal justice will be named to fill Scalia’s seat and we will lose the Supreme Court for a generation. With that, we know for a certainty that our right to keep and bear arms, our religious liberty and federalism are in danger.

Tonight we received insight into what a Hillary Clinton presidency would look like for Americans. We know that her policies would kill jobs, reduce wages, and continue the downward spiral our country has endured under President Obama.

Tonight, Donald Trump had his strongest debate performance of the election cycle. He drew strong contrasts with Hillary on taxes, regulations, law and order, and the disastrous Iran deal.

Rather than Hillary’s America, we need to take a different path. A path that would begin to restore our country from the damage it has suffered the last eight years. We need to unite to defend freedom and restore the Constitution. And Hillary Clinton made absolutely clear tonight she would not do so.

It’s interesting that none of the issues Cruz mentions in the first part of his post were actually discussed in depth during the first debate, and most weren’t mentioned at all: ObamaCare; Obama’s war on oil, gas, and coal; Syrian refugees; Obama’s executive amnesty; Supreme Court justices; protecting the Second Amendment; religious liberty; or federalism.

Trump touched on the job-killing, wage-suppressing effects of statist policies, but there’s a lot more to be said about the absurdity of Clinton’s plan to encourage private-sector job creation by taking more money away from the private sector.

Perhaps Cruz was using his congratulatory message to supply Trump with some ammunition for the second debate. After the first one, Trump should have no illusions that mainstream media moderators will bring up any of these issues on their own.