Cruz Fires Back: Trump Said He Had New York, Not Iowa, Values in 1999

Over the weekend, Ted Cruz appeared on “Fox News Sunday,” where he was asked by host Chris Wallace to address the backlash to his attacks on Donald Trump’s “New York values.” You can view the segment and read the transcript of the exchange below:

WALLACE: Senator, you have taken some real hits for your attacks on Donald Trump and the so-called “New York values”.  I happen to have, I don’t know if you’ve had a chance to see them, because you’ve been on the campaign trail.  Here is “The New York Post.”  They says Cruz missiles and they quote Rudy Giuliani as saying that he thought that New York had gotten over or rather the country had gotten over this knee-jerk reaction against New York.   They accuse you of a sneering apology.  Here is The New York Daily News, “Slime doesn’t pay, Ted.” Your reaction?

CRUZ: Well, look, these are certainly amusing, and it is amusing saying the media elite in New York and D.C. run around with their hair on fire wondering what on earth are New York values?  I’ll tell you and the rest of the country, people understand exactly what that is.  In South Carolina when I was there, the people there certainly understand it.   And you know what is particular —

WALLACE: — 9/11 part of New York values?

CRUZ: You know what is particularly curious, Chris?  Is that formulation didn’t come from me.  It came from Donald Trump.  Donald Trump, when he was being interviewed by Tim Russert, when he was explaining his views a number of years ago.

WALLACE: 1999.

CRUZ: He explained in his views that he was pro-choice, he supported partial birth abortion, open to gay marriage, and his explanation for all that, he said, I’m a New Yorker, I’m from Manhattan.  Those are the views of New York.  Those are what New York values are, they’re not Iowa values, but that’s New York values.

So, that was Donald’s over explanation of what New York values are.  It’s how he articulated it.  It strikes me as curious now that he is displayed such outrage that anyone would even acknowledge that there’s a particular political view — and I would point out it’s a view echoed by far left liberal Democratic politicians like Andrew Cuomo, Bill de Blasio, Hillary Clinton, and Donald Trump has supported those candidates and supported their positions on a lot of issues.

Thomas Valentine is a researcher for the American Principles Project and a junior at the Franciscan University of Steubenville.