New York Rep. Peter King hammered Sen. Ted Cruz on Monday, calling the fellow Republican a big-mouthed “carnival barker” who has no business running for president.
“We have very, very complex issues facing the country today, and he goes out of his way to oversimplify,” Mr. King told CNN’s Wolf Blitzer in an interview on “The Situation Room.”
“For instance, to say that we could end Obamacare, in effect, by not funding and shutting down the government is absolutely wrong. That’s the wrong signal to send,” the Republican continued. “We need intelligent debate in this country. Ted Cruz may be an intelligent person, but he doesn’t carry out an intelligent debate. He oversimplifies, he exaggerates, and he basically led the Republican Party over the cliff in the fall of 2013. He’s shown no qualifications, no legislation being passed, he doesn’t provide leadership and he has no real experience. So to me, he’s a guy with a big mouth and no results.”
Asked if he would support Mr. Cruz if he won the Republican nomination, Mr. King responded, “I just hope that day never comes. I will jump off that bridge when we come to it.”
“It’d be very difficult,” he explained. “Maybe he can go on the road to Damascus, he can have a complete conversion. But the way it is right now, it’d be very difficult to support Ted Cruz.”
Mr. King, a senior member of both the Homeland Security and Intelligence committees, has said he’s mulling a potential 2016 bid because he believes the GOP needs someone with a strong national security agenda, CNN reported.
Earlier Monday, Mr. King issued a written statement slamming Mr. Cruz for giving a 20-hour speech against Obamacare on the Senate floor in 2013.
“Shutting down the federal government and reading Dr. Seuss on the Senate floor are the marks of a carnival barker, not the leader of the free world,” Mr. King said.
• Jessica Chasmar can be reached at jchasmar@washingtontimes.com.
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