Sen. Ted Cruz of Texas said Thursday that religious liberty is under assault at home and aboard, and he said that the 2016 presidential race will be “the religious liberty election.”
Mr. Cruz is among a handful of GOP candidates who are trying to court evangelical Christians in the run-up to the nomination contest. He told the religious conservatives who turned out for the Faith and Freedom Coalition’s “Road to Majority” conference here in Washington, D.C., that they are key to the GOP’s hopes of capturing the White House and turning the country around.
“I believe 2016 will be the religious liberty election,” Mr. Cruz said. “Religious liberty has never been more threatened in America than right now today.”
Mr. Cruz touted his record fighting for religious liberty in the Supreme Court and said the battles have intensified — pointing to the pushback that lawmakers received in Indiana and Arkansas over their efforts to protect people’s ability to exercise their religious beliefs.
“The modern Democratic party has decided that their commitment to mandatory gay marriage in all 50 states trumps any willingness to defend the First Amendment,” he said.
• Seth McLaughlin can be reached at smclaughlin@washingtontimes.com.
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