After receiving a hero’s welcome at CPAC today, Senator Ted Cruz proved to the assembled conservatives that he is at least as passionate as they are. In his speech, the senator from Texas lashed out at Barack Obama, Hillary Clinton and Washington D.C., his own party included:
Washington wants power over the Internet, the people want freedom online! And don’t believe President Obama when he promises that if you like your Internet, you can keep it.
He went on to lambast Obama for failing to call ISIS what they are: a radical islamist organization. Oh, and about those Christian Egyptians? They weren’t slaughtered because they happened to be Egyptian citizens, Mr. President, they were killed because they were Christians.
And Hillary Clinton? She “embodies the corruption of Washington.” That’s that. Goodbye, Hillary — good luck trying to convince the American people that you didn’t cover up what happened in Benghazi.
Tellingly, Cruz used the opportunity to explain what he believes has to be done to put America back on track.
“We need to take the power out of Washington and bring it back to the American people,” Cruz said. And then he went after his fellow Republicans. “Every single person here,” Cruz said, pretends to be ultra conservative now, but how did they actually vote in the past? “When have you stood and fought? If a candidate says they oppose a nuclear Iran, fantastic! When have you actually fought?” Cruz continued:
If a candidate says they oppose the debt ceiling and the debt that’s crushing our kids and grandkids, we should ask show me where you’ve stood up to stop it. If a candidate says they support the First Amendment or free speech or liberty, if a candidate says they support the Second Amendment—the right to keep and bear arms—we should say show me where you’ve stood up and fought to protect them.”
And then came the death blow: the question isn’t whether there are any Republican candidates for president who have stood up to Democrats, but “when have you stood up to Republicans?”
To finish it off, Cruz quoted his father, the well-known Christian preacher who escaped from Cuba and built a new life for himself in America:
I saw freedom taken away once, and I’ll die before I let it happen again.
The response from the audience, conservatives on Facebook (“he’s killing it!”) and on Twitter, clearly showed Cruz hit a nerve — well, more than one, actually. He received a roaring standing ovation and was immediately approached by everyone in the room.
All of this proves once again that conservatives are hungry for a Republican candidate who takes the fight to Democrats and his (or her!) own leadership.
Here’s the video! Enjoy!
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