United States Senator and 2016 Iowa Caucus winner Ted Cruz spoke Sunday in Johnston at the campaign kickoff for Nicole Hasso, who is running for the GOP nomination in the Third District.
Cruz has already endorsed Hasso, who he said he is proud to support.
“All of us know our country’s in crisis,” he said. “We are seeing radical policies from Washington. We’re seeing massive amounts of new spending. I have many times said ‘Dear God, please, please nobody tell the Democrats what comes after a trillion.’ We’re seeing trillions in new taxes that they’re getting ready to ram down the throats of the American people hurting working families, hurting small businesses, devastating farms and ranches throughout Iowa and throughout the country.”
Cruz also said chaos at the U.S. border is highlighted by the fact more than one million people have crossed illegally in the last seven months.
“We’re on pace for more than 2 million people crossing illegally this year,” he said. “The highest rate of illegal immigration in 21 years.”
He credited the border patrol agents for their courage and strength.
“They are standing up to vicious criminals,” he said. “And I’ve got to tell you, right now they’re getting demonized, they’re getting insulted, they’re getting spat upon.”
He said they bring in traffickers and the political leadership thanks them and then lets the trafficker go.
“This administration refuses to enforce the law,” Cruz said. “And then you look aborad.”
Cruz said the foreign policy is worse than the economic and domestic policies.
“We’ve managed to alienate our friends and allies and show weakness and appeasement to our enemies,” he said. “The catastrophe in Afghanistan gets worse every day.”
Last week, Cruz said, he was on a call with the Secretary of State, Secretary of Defense and the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff.
“They were talking about Afghanistan and they said, ‘well here are the steps that the Taliban need to take to be welcomed into the community of civilized nations,'” Cruz said. “And I’m laughing out loud. They don’t want to be welcomed into the community of civilized nations, they want to kill us. They combine that naivete with a level of incompetence – these guys cannot find their rear ends using both hands.”
Cruz said abandoning Bagram and sharing a list of Americans and Afghans who had helped the U.S. with the Taliban are decisions that are “utterly indefensible.”
“In what universe do you give a list of the Afghans who have been helpful to the military to the terrorists who want to murder the Afghans who have been helpful to the military,” Cruz asked. “This is idiocy and incompetence. And let me tell you, it’s gotten more dangerous all over the world. Every enemy of America has been thrilled this past two weeks.”
The Taliban shouldn’t be drawing lines in the sand, such as the Aug. 31 deadline.
“The United States of America doesn’t leave Americans behind,” Cruz said. “And a bunch of terrorists in the desert don’t draw red lines for the United States of America. We need to stay there as long as is necessary to get every American out who wants to come home.”
