Cruz: ‘We Need a Governor’ a ‘Proxy’ for ‘We Need a Moderate’

Texas Senator and GOP presidential candidate Ted Cruz declared that “we need a governor” is “a proxy for ‘We need a moderate'” on Monday’s “Mark Levin Show.”

Cruz said that he likes New Jersey Governor Chris Christie (R) and welcomed him into the race for president. He was then asked about Christie arguing that “I don’t believe that we’ve done well with the experiment of a one-term U.S. senator being president of the United States.” Cruz stated, “I always think it’s amusing how the mainstream media treats it as newsworthy that governors say they prefer governors as candidates.” And “that line, ‘We need a governor’ only is said on television and from Washington when the moderate choice is a governor. When — in 1980 when the conservative choice was governor, Ronald Reagan, then we were told we needed a former Congressman, George Herbert Walker Bush. In 1996, when the moderate choice was Bob Dole, no one said we needed a governor then. In 2008, no one said we needed a governor then when it was John McCain. Washington only says ‘We need a governor’ when it’s a proxy for ‘We need a moderate,’ and every time we nominate an establishment moderate, we lose.”

Cruz concluded, “I think what Republican primary voters are interested [in] from every candidate in 2016 [is], when have you stood up to the Washington cartel. It’s one thing to say you oppose Democrats or Obama, that’s easy to say you’re doing. But when have you stood to Republican leadership and the Washington cartel? Now, I guess some of the candidates could say, ‘Well, I stood up to Republicans to embrace amnesty.’ And as you know, the mainstream media will praise you as a bipartisan statesman when you stand up to Republicans to the left. But the question I think primary voters are going to ask is, ‘When have you stood up to Republican leadership, to the corruption in Washington from the right, standing with the people and the Constitution and standing for liberty?'”

Follow Ian Hanchett on Twitter @IanHanchett

COMMENTS

Please let us know if you're having issues with commenting.