PILOT SPIN
Spin Zone => Spin Zone => Topic started by: Lucifer on March 18, 2016, 06:18:30 AM
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10 times Lindsey Graham criticized Ted Cruz
By ELIZA COLLINS 03/17/16 05:16 PM EDT
Lindsey Graham may have thrown his support behind Ted Cruz Thursday, but he hasn't always had such kind words about the Texas senator. Graham — who is well known for his colorful statements — once said that Cruz was so hated in Congress that if someone murdered him, they’d get away with it.
Here are 10 times the South Carolina senator — and former presidential candidate — bashed the same guy he’ll be fundraising for Monday:
1. "If you killed Ted Cruz on the floor of the Senate, and the trial was in the Senate, nobody could convict you," Graham said, referencing Cruz’s unpopularity with his colleagues, at the Washington Press Club Foundation's 72nd Congressional Dinner.
2. “It’s like being shot or poisoned,” Graham told reporters at a press conference in January when asked who he preferred between Donald Trump and Cruz. “What does it really matter?”
3. At the same news conference, Graham said that “when it comes to Sen. Cruz, he's exhibited behavior in his time in the Senate that make it impossible for me to believe that he could bring this country together.”
4. In January, Graham said that Cruz’s campaign strategy played into fears, according to CNN. "Vote for me, everybody else is an idiot,” Graham said, referencing Cruz's style of outreach. "You know, this kind of very dark view of America."
5. Graham gave a speech to the Republican Jewish Coalition in December where he said that Cruz’s stances on abortion exceptions will doom the party. “If the nominee of the Republican Party will not allow for an exception for rape and incest, they will not win,” Graham said. “Ted Cruz doesn’t have an exception for rape or incest.”
“It will be about rape. … It will be about the nominee of the Republican Party telling a woman who’s been raped, 'You’ve got to carry the child of the rapist,'” he continued. “Good luck with that.”
6. “I’m running to be the president of the United States. And a certain amount of honesty comes with that,” Graham said in an interview with POLITICO in September. “Shutting down the government, I think it hurts our overall cause and I don't mind telling people that. If I’m going to be a good nominee and a good president, I’ve got to tell you what I believe.”
“I’m not trying to do something to get my numbers up or to raise money. I’m trying to advance the cause,” he said, hitting Cruz for his maneuverings that led to the 2013 government shutdown over Republicans' opposition to Obamacare.
7. CNN’s Wolf Blitzer in February asked Graham if he had confidence in Cruz being a commander-and-chief. "I think he’s been just as wrong as Obama, if not worse," Graham declared.
8. "I'm gonna support the Republican nominee," Graham said during the same CNN interview. But what if it is Trump or Cruz? "I'm gonna buy a ticket on the Titanic."
9. And Graham continued the anti-Cruz tirade to Blitzer: "Ted Cruz at his core is an opportunist when it comes to his political career. He has an ideological bent that won't sell with the American people. And when it came time to say what Ted Cruz has done in the Senate, what he's done is run down other Republicans. He hasn't solved any problem."
10. In an interview with MSNBC’s Morning Joe in early February, Graham said a Cruz candidacy would mean the Democrats would “cream” his party in a general election. He gave Cruz’s chances against any Democrat “one-in-10.”
“The problem we have as Republicans is that we’re losing the largest and fastest growing demographic, Hispanics, and when you ask them after 2012 why they don’t like the Republican party, it’s the immigration issue and the way we’ve handled it. So Ted was for legalization no matter what he tells you, and now he says he wasn’t,” Graham said. "He’s going further right on immigration.”
“I think his position on immigration is completely out-of-sync what where the party needs to be, and he will get creamed,” Graham said.
Nick Gass contributed to this report.
http://www.politico.com/blogs/2016-gop-primary-live-updates-and-results/2016/03/10-times-graham-criticized-cruz-220939
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And here I thought you were finally going to go off on Trump's buddies like Alex Jones.
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Previous to this, Lindsay Graham HATED Cruz.
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Previous to this, Lindsay Graham HATED Cruz.
Honestly, I don't think anything has changed.
Politics make strange bedfellows.
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The shock here is that ANYONE thinks that what Lindsay Grahamnesty has to say is worth noting.
The guy was the epitome of the "go along to get along" crowd.
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The shock here is that ANYONE thinks that what Lindsay Grahamnesty has to say is worth noting.
The guy was the epitome of the "go along to get along" crowd.
Very true. He is an establishment RINO.
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Lindsey Graham is the epitome of a sleazy, self-centered, politician. Much like Hilary, Lindsey pretends to be whatever it takes to get along and keep the corruption underway. Much like Boehner and McConnell, he lies with Obama-esque ease, and when he talked about Ted Cruz, the risk was that all ten of his supporters might not vote for him.