During a campaign stop Saturday in Corpus Christi TX, Senator Ted Cruz (R-TX) told the crowd of voters that he has a fairly basic view when it comes to the issue of immigration.
“You know, I have many times summed up my views on immigration in four words: Legal, good. Illegal, bad,” Cruz said.
In reference to the upcoming midterm elections, Cruz added that “This election is about jobs, it’s about securing our border, and it’s about protecting our constitutional rights.”
Cruz told reporters that he believes the election between himself and his opponent, Congressman Beto O’Rourke (D-TX) will be based on one thing.
“This election is a fundamental choice and I believe it’s going to come down to turnout,” he said.
O’Rourke, who posted video of himself skateboarding in the parking lot of a Whataburger restaurant Sunday, said he feels an “intensity” when it comes to the data the polls are putting out.
“Everywhere we go, there’s just an intensity… the numbers feel good. The energy feels good. And again, if those polls are to be believed, we’re within contention.”
However, Cruz told NPR that O’Rourke has moved to the “hard left” and that he hopes to “energize them enough that they show up and vote.”
“And I think he’s gambling on there are enough people on the left for whom defeating and destroying Donald Trump is their No. 1 issue, that he’s hoping that’s his path to victory. I don’t see that in the state of Texas. In Texas, there are a whole lot more conservatives than liberals,” Cruz said.
In regard to the immigration issue, O’Rourke said he wants Texans to live out their values by allowing DREAMers to become citizens.
“I think the this state, the most diverse state in the country, should lead on immigration. Free DREAMers from the fear of deportation, but make them citizens today so they can contribute to their full potential. That is not a partisan value, that’s our Texan identity and we should lead with it.”
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“We can either be governed by fear, fear of immigrants, fear of Muslims, call the press the enemy of the people, tear kids away from their parents at the U.S.-Mexico border, or we can be governed by our ambitions and our aspirations and our desire to make the most out of all of us,” O’Rourke said, adding “And that’s America at its best.”
He also touted his grassroots campaign by saying he is not “running against anyone, we’re not running against anything. This is Republicans, Democrats, independents alike, coming together without the help of corporations or special interests, or political action committees, to do the work of this country.”
However, Cruz referenced a major difference between himself and O’Rourke, stating “In the Senate race, there is no political race in the country with a starker divide between the two candidates. My opponent, Congressman Beto O’Rourke, is not doing what Democrats usually do in the general election. He’s not pretending to go to the middle, he’s not pretending to be moderate,” the senator concluded.
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