Ted Cruz: ‘I’m Christian First, American Second’-Truth!
Summary of eRumor:
It’s been reported that Senator Ted Cruz said he is Christian first and American second in an interview.
The Truth:
It’s true that Ted Cruz said he is Christian first and an American second.
The GOP presidential candidate commented on his allegiances in January 2016 in response to comments from former Senator Bob Dole.
Dole told the New York Times that Cruz would do more damage to the Republican Party than Donald Trump, and in the process, Dole questioned Cruz’s allegiances:
Bob Dole, the former Kansas senator and 1996 Republican presidential nominee, has never been fond of Senator Ted Cruz of Texas. But in an interview Wednesday, Mr. Dole said that the party would suffer “cataclysmic” and “wholesale losses” if Mr. Cruz were the nominee, and that Donald J. Trump would fare better.
“I question his allegiance to the party,” Mr. Dole said of Mr. Cruz. “I don’t know how often you’ve heard him say the word ‘Republican’ — not very often.” Instead, Mr. Cruz uses the word “conservative,” Mr. Dole said, before offering up a different word for Mr. Cruz: “extremist.”
“I don’t know how he’s going to deal with Congress,” he said. “Nobody likes him.”
Ted Cruz quickly responded in an interview with Politico. Cruz ranked his allegiances, and Christianity topped the list:
“I’m a Christian first, American second, conservative third and Republican fourth,” said Cruz, who is currently a distant second place, behind Trump, for the GOP nomination in several national polls. “I’ll tell ya, there are a whole lot of people in this country that feel exactly the same way.”
So, it’s true that Ted Cruz said he’s Christian first and American second. He made the comment in response to Bob Dole questioning his allegiances.