How about that odd exchange between Donald Trump and Ted Cruz toward the end of last night’s CNN Republican debate?
Whoo, boy.
It started with one of the moderators, Dana Bash, asking Trump about how he, this past weekend, said Cruz wasn’t qualified to be president because he “acted like a maniac” when he was first elected to the Senate, and juxtaposed that observation with one from Trump last month in which the billionaire suggested that Cruz would make a good running mate in the fall.
“So, why would you be willing to put somebody who’s a maniac one heartbeat away from the presidency?” Bash asked Trump.
“Let me just say that I have gotten to know him over the last three or four days. He has a wonderful temperament. He’s just fine. Don’t worry about it,” Trump said.
Then Bash turned to Cruz.
“Sen. Cruz, you have not been willing to attack Mr. Trump in public,” she began her question, with Trump interrupting.
“You better not,” he said.
“But you did,” Bash continued, after nervous laughter on the stage and in the audience, “question his judgment in having control of American’s nuclear arsenal during a private meeting with supporters. Why are you willing to say things about him in private and not in public?”
“I said that the judgment that every voter is making of every one of us up here is who has the experience, who has the vision, who has the judgment to be commander-in-chief. That is a standard I’m held to,” Cruz said, launching into filibuster mode.
“And in the course of this discussion about our foreign policy threats it illustrates the need for clarity of focus. My daughters, Caroline and Katherine came tonight. They are 7 and 5. You think about the Los Angeles schools cancelling their schools today. And every parent is wondering how do we keep our kids safe?
“We need a commander-in-chief that did what Reagan did. He set out a strategy to defeat communism. One of the things we’ve seen here is how easy it is for president Obama and Hillary Clinton to be distracted from Islamic terrorism. We need a president who stands up and says we will defeat ISIS and says the greatest national …
CNN moderator Dana Bash interrupted.
“A lot of people have seen these comments you made in private. What you are saying is that you do believe that Mr. Trump has the judgment to be commander-in-chief?”
Cruz; “That is a judgment for every voter to make. But all nine of the people here would make an infinitely better commander-in-chief than Barack Obama or Hillary Clinton.”
End love fest. Seems pretty obvious that these two guys are working together in some form or fashion.
No doubt Trump gets to be on top.
– Story by Chris Graham
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Chris Graham
