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Senator Ted Cruz, Republican from Texas and one of over a dozen candidates hoping to win the nomination from his party to be a presidential candidate, has conspicuously refrained from criticizing fellow Republican Donald Trump’s sensational campaign. In contrast, Trump’s campaign has drawn much criticism for remarks he made regarding immigration policy which seemed blatantly racist, and other controversial statements from many of his political rivals.
The reason Cruz is not only tolerant, but supportive of many of Trump’s positions is that their basic running platform is the same; they are both campaigning on a strong anti-establishment position. Trump has been highlighting his clashes with both Democratic and Republican leadership in Washington, and Cruz says this helps him.
“Others have gone out of their way to smack [Trump]; I haven’t,” Cruz said in an interview on NBC’s “Meet the Press.” “I think Donald’s campaign has been immensely beneficial for our campaign. … And the reason is he’s framed the central issue of this Republican primary as who will stand up to Washington? Well, the natural follow-up, if that’s the question, is who actually has stood up to Washington? Who has stood up to both Democrats and to leaders in their own party?”
Cruz was careful to add, however, that whereas Trump is a billionaire real estate magnate and entertainer, Cruz actually has a record of standing up to the Washington monopoly on power.
“I think my record is markedly different in terms of actually standing up and taking on the Washington cartel,” Cruz said. “And I think that’s why we’re seeing particularly…as voters get more and more educated, study the candidates, listen to the candidates in person, I think that’s why we’re seeing the grass roots momentum…we’re seeing…is conservatives…coalescing behind our campaign.”
