Touting Electability, Cruz Woos Republican Jews
Republican presidential candidate Ted Cruz on Saturday sought to rally a group of influential Republican donors to give him a chance as the last viable candidate standing to beat Donald Trump in the Republican presidential nomination process.
“We started this race with 17 candidates. Many of you started with somebody else,” Cruz said during a speech at the Republican Jewish Coalition’s Spring Leadership Summit in Las Vegas on Saturday. “One of the things we are working very much to do is welcome everyone who supported somebody else with open arms. I am here today asking for your help, asking each of you to stand with us, to support us; but also help bring others together. We have to achieve that unity, and we have got just over 100 days to do it.”
“If we do that, we are going to win the primary, and that unity going forward in November will win the general election,” he promised.
Cruz stressed that he is the Republicans best chance to maintain Republican control of Congress – even for those who think he’s unelectable – considering Trump is trailing the Democratic presidential nominee by a large margin.
“If the top of the ticket is blown out of the water by 10 points, we’re losing the Senate. And there’s not a thing that can be done to stop it,” he said. “With a double-digit loss, we can even lose the House.”
Cruz also outlined his path to beat the Democratic nominee in a one-on-one matchup in the fall. He pointed to his support among voters ages 18-30 as a demographic where Hillary Clinton is getting “whipped” in the Democratic primaries.
During his speech, Cruz reiterated his pledge to rip to shreds the nuclear deal with Iran and begin the process of moving the U.S. embassy in Israel to Jerusalem. “I’m told Donald even read that promise off teleprompters at AIPAC,” Cruz quipped.
“Ted Cruz helped himself a lot at the Republican Jewish Coalition meeting. He’s going to leave here with a lot of support,” Ari Fleischer tweeted after Cruz’s appearance.