Ted Cruz in Sunday Political Talk Show interviews during 2015

On Gun Control: Obama is coming for our guns

Friend, I own guns. I'm planning on keeping them.But there's a problem: Obama is coming for our guns. You see: Obama's aides have alerted the press that if Congress won't cooperate-- Obama will use executive actions to, "keep guns out of the hands of criminals and others who shouldn't have access to them," it reads. By "others who shouldn't have...them," Obama means you and me. Source: Washington Post 2015 coverage of 2016 presidential hopefuls Oct 16, 2015

On Civil Rights: Supreme Court gay rights ruling undermines the Constitution

We had 2 decisions of the Supreme Court where they ignored the text of federal law. They rewrote ObamaCare, forcing that failed law on millions of Americans, and then the next day, 5 justices disregarded the text of the Constitution and purported to strike down the marriage laws of all 50 states.

I would urge everyone to read Justice Scalia's dissents. He said that these decisions are an assault on democracy. That this is 5 unelected lawyers declaring they are the rulers of 320 million Americans.

Source: Meet the Press 2015 interviews of 2016 presidential hopefuls Jul 5, 2015

On Social Security: Implement commonsense reforms for younger workers

I'm 44. It's hard to find someone in my generation who believes Social Security will be there for them. That gives us an opportunity for commonsense reforms. We ought to gradually increase the retirement age. We ought to change the rate of increase in benefits so that it matches inflation, rather than exceeding inflation. Both those reforms would apply to people my age. Source: CNS News 2015 coverage of 2016 presidential hopefuls Jun 5, 2015

On Budget & Economy: Top 1% under Obama got fat & happy while workers are hurting

Q: We saw these new unemployment numbers this week showing the economy has created more than a million jobs in the last three months, the best record in 17 years. What's the answer when Hillary runs on that?

CRUZ: Well, look, if Hillary Clinton wants to run by telling Americans that the economy is doing great and you can credit President Obama and Hillary Clinton for that, I would encourage her to follow that strategy. Because the simple reality is, that's true for the wealthy. The top 1% under President Obama, the millionaires and billionaires that he constantly demagogued, earned a higher share for our income than any year since 1928. Those with power and influence who walk the corridors of power of the Obama administration have gotten fat and happy under big government. But I'll tell you, hardworking men and women across America are hurting. We today have the lowest labor force participation since 1978: 92 million Americans aren't working, and we've seen wages stagnate.

Source: ABC This Week 2015 interviews of 2016 presidential hopefuls Feb 8, 2015

On War & Peace: Focused, direct military objective of destroying ISIS

Q: You've said that the answer is to bomb ISIS back to the Stone Age. Most experts say that will not be enough, that you will need ground forces as well. Would you call up American forces if others don't step up?

CRUZ: We have boots on the ground already with the Kurds. But our government is not providing military weapons effectively to the Kurds. Instead, they're shuttling it all to Baghdad, and Baghdad is very slow in getting it to the Kurds.

Q: But if that's not enough, would you be willing to send American ground troops into that battle?

CRUZ: Look, we need to accomplish the mission and the mission should be defeating ISIS before they succeed in carrying out more horrific acts of terror. If need be, we should go that step. The problem is, right now, the Obama-Clinton-Kerry foreign policy has been consistently wrong on ISIS. Our photo-op foreign policy, where we drop a bomb here or a missile there. We need a focused, direct military objective of taking out and destroying ISIS.

Source: ABC This Week 2015 interviews of 2016 presidential hopefuls Feb 8, 2015

On War & Peace: Provide defensive weapons for Ukraine against Russia

Q: German Chancellor Angela Merkel said she does not think it is time to arm the Ukrainians yet. Why is she wrong?

CRUZ: She said she did not believe there was any prospect for Ukraine to be successful in defending itself against Russian aggression. I think that's mistaken. What [Obama and Merkel are] doing with regard to Ukraine and with regard to Russia makes no sense, and it isn't working. It is long past time for us to step forward and provide defensive weapons, so that the men and women of Ukraine can defend their nation. They are our allies. We committed ourselves to standing with Ukraine to defend their territorial integrity.

Q: Should the US arm the Ukraine over the objections of the Germans?

CRUZ: What we're seeing is, when America doesn't lead, Europe can't be expected to step into the breach. What is missing from this is the president of the US. I'm part of a large bipartisan congressional delegation that is united on the need for us to provide defensive arms to Ukraine.

Source: CNN SOTU 2015 interviews of 2016 presidential hopefuls Feb 8, 2015

On War & Peace: Arm the Kurds to fight ISIS, with US air support

Q: What about US troops on the ground to fight ISIS in Iraq?

CRUZ: We met today with the president of Kurdistan. The Kurds on the ground are fantastic fighters. The Peshmerga have been our allies. And they're actually fighting every day to stop ISIS. Now, what makes no sense whatsoever is, the Obama administration is refusing to directly arm the Kurds. We need to arm the Kurds now because they are our boots on the ground. I don't believe it is necessary to put American boots on the ground if we are arming the Peshmerga. The Peshmerga on the ground, combined with overwhelming American airpower, can take out ISIS.

Q: So some in the Pentagon who apparently are considering about 10,000 U.S. troops on the ground, that would be a bad move?

CRUZ: In my view, American boots on the ground should always be the last step, and we need to exercise other steps before that. We have the availability of overwhelming airpower, and we have boots on the ground that are ready and eager to fight.

Source: CNN SOTU 2015 interviews of 2016 presidential hopefuls Feb 8, 2015

On Drugs: I foolishly smoked pot when young, but never since

Sen. Ted Cruz's team admitted the tea party Texan smoked marijuana when he was a teen -- but never since. And he's hardly the only top-ranking politico, Republican or Democrat, to confess to the drug use in recent days.

"Teenagers are often known for their lack of judgment, and Sen. Cruz was no exception," one of Mr. Cruz's campaign spokesman told The Daily Mail. "When he was a teenager, he foolishly experimented with marijuana. It was a mistake, and he's never tried it since."

Source: Washington Times 2015 coverage of 2016 presidential hopefuls Feb 4, 2015

The above quotations are from Sunday Political Talk Show interviews during 2015, interviewing presidential hopefuls for 2016. Click here for main summary page. Click here for a profile of Ted Cruz. Click here for Ted Cruz on all issues.
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Page last updated: Nov 30, 2021