Cruz: Trump ‘Discovered’ Illegal Immigration During Campaign, ‘Every’ Campaign Promise ‘Opposite’ of His Record

Texas Senator and Republican presidential candidate Ted Cruz stated that while he was fighting to oppose the Gang of Eight plan back in 2013, fellow candidate Donald Trump was supporting amnesty and “criticizing Mitt Romney for being too tough on illegal immigration.” And that “every one of his campaign promises is directly opposite where his record was” on Thursday’s “Morning Meeting” on Boston Herald Radio.

Cruz pointed to [relevant remarks begin around 6:40] a tweet from August 29, 2013 where Trump said, “Congress must protect our borders first. Amnesty should be done only if the border is secure and illegal immigration has stopped.”

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Cruz stated that “in 2013, I was leading the fight against [GOP presidential candidate Sen.] Marco Rubio’s (R-FL) Gang of Eight amnesty plan. … In the middle of that fight, Donald Trump sent out a tweet supporting amnesty.”

He added, “I get on the presidential campaign, he suddenly discovered illegal immigration is a problem, but you know, back then, when we were actually fighting to stop amnesty, Donald Trump was criticizing Mitt Romney for being too tough on illegal immigration.”

Cruz also said he doesn’t regret criticizing some of the debate questions that Trump faced, saying that the questions were “cheap shots” rather than substantive issues. Cruz further stated there would be no problem with asking Trump about his support of the Kelo decision and his personal use of eminent domain.

Cruz further stated of Trump, “the language he’s saying on the campaign trail does not match how he lived the first 60 years of his life. The first 60 years of his life, he supported partial-birth abortion. Now, suddenly when he’s a candidate for president, he claims to be pro-life. Okay. But you know, as a voter, I’ve seen enough people, enough candidates, enough politicians say things on the campaign trail that they didn’t follow through on that when every one of his campaign promises is directly opposite where his record was, that’s troubling.”

Follow Ian Hanchett on Twitter @IanHanchett

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