Sen. Ted Cruz of Texas says that GOP presidential rival Donald Trump “was publicly supporting amnesty” during the 2013 debate over illegal immigration.
“Look, I understand that Marco Rubio and Donald Trump are trying very, very hard to blur the lines here,” Mr. Cruz told ABC News.
“Marco Rubio stood with Chuck Schumer and Barack Obama and advocated for citizenship and amnesty for 12 million people here illegally,” he said. “I stood with Jeff Sessions and Steve King and led the opposition that defeated amnesty, and I would note at that time, right in the middle of the fight, Donald Trump was publicly supporting amnesty.”
In recent days, Mr. Cruz has highlighted a Twitter post from Mr. Trump in August 2013 that read: “Congress must protect our borders first. Amnesty should be done only if the border is secure and illegal immigration has stopped.”
In the interview, Mr. Cruz also touched on Mr. Trump’s social media habits.
“I will say, anyone who wakes up every day and sees a slight drop in the polls and responds in a frenzy of tweets — I would suggest that the next commander-in-chief, instead of living or dying by the daily polls and by the latest Twitter storm, should focus on identifying our enemies and doing whatever is necessary to keep this country safe,” he said. “And as president, that’s what I’m going to do.”
• David Sherfinski can be reached at dsherfinski@washingtontimes.com.
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