As an angle of attack, Ted Cruz accusing Donald Trump of harboring “New York values” may or may not bear fruit in the end. But whether or not Cruz despises the values of New Yorkers, he appears to love their money.
The Hill reports that Cruz has raised millions from New York residents since his presidential campaign began.
Cruz’s presidential campaign has raised at least $470,851 from New York donors in the first three quarters of fundraising this primary season, making the state his fourth most lucrative in the U.S., according to the nonpartisan campaign finance group the Center for Responsive Politics.
Not only that, but Cruz’s second-largest super-PAC contribution — a check for $11 million — came from financier Robert Mercer, whose hedge fund Renaissance Technologies is headquartered in East Setauket, N.Y.
Cruz’s New York-based presidential campaign donors include executives at Wall Street firms, Goldman Sachs, Bank of America, Citigroup and, among others, the hedge fund Paulson & Co., founded by billionaire John Paulson. Cruz’s fourth-quarter contributions will not be released by the Federal Election Commission until Jan. 31.
Cruz tried to use Thursday night’s Republican debate in South Carolina to taint Trump with a city the senator portrayed as morally inferior.
“Everyone understands the values in New York City are socially liberal, pro-abortion, pro-gay marriage and focus around money and the media,” Cruz said. “Not a lot of conservatives come out of Manhattan.”
Trump rebutted Cruz’s attack with an invocation of 9/11, and on Friday morning, prominent New Yorkers including Republican Rep. Pete King accused Cruz of hypocrisy and worse.
“What Ted Cruz said was outrageous, it was disgusting, it was hypocritical,” King said Friday on CNN.
“I mean, for one thing, his wife works at a large investment bank in New York … and he’s always coming to New York to raise money for Republicans — including gay Republicans, who he tells behind closed doors he’ll look the other way on gay marriage,” he added.
While Cruz’s wife is on leave as managing director of Goldman Sachs’s Houston office, her company’s employees and political action committee have given him at least $96,700 in hard dollar contributions to his Senate account — the fifth most generous by company to Cruz, according to the Center for Responsive Politics’s analysis.
Campaign finance data and publicly sourced fundraising invitations and news reports bear out King’s other arguments.
Indeed, as recently as last month, Cruz held a fundraiser in New York City — instead of attending a Senate hearing on ISIS. And Politico published a story about a New York fundraiser where Cruz admitted privately that he wouldn’t make gay marriage a top priority.
But — big surprise — Cruz is a politician and this sort of hypocrisy is SOP for politicians from both parties. Hillary lambasts Wall Street while taking millions in donations. It’s a game played by elites in business and politics with both sides understanding exactly what’s going on.
I doubt whether Cruz will lose any support over these revelations.
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