OCT. 17, 2015 – In an exclusive interview on the campaign trail in New Hampshire, Republican presidential candidate Sen. Ted Cruz told “Meet the Press” moderator Chuck Todd that “Donald [Trump]’s campaign has been immensely beneficial for our campaign.”
“You know others have gone out of their way to smack him, I haven’t,” said Cruz, referencing Trump. “My record markedly different in terms of actually standing up and taking on the Washington cartel….I think that’s why we are seeing the grassroots momentum that we’re seeing.”
Tune in to “Meet the Press” tomorrow for the full exclusive interview with Sen. Cruz.
A transcript of this excerpt is below, and you can watch it here: http://nbcnews.to/1LsQkDv.
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MANDATORY CREDIT: NBC NEWS’ “MEET THE PRESS” / CHUCK TODD
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CHUCK TODD:
The best path for you, as the conservative, would be to win over the voters that are supporting Donald Trump and Ben Carson right now. How do you do that? How do you tell those voters, you know what, you may like those guys, but come to me?
SEN. TED CRUZ:
Listen, I’m very encouraged where we are right now because I think what we are seeing happening every day is conservatives coalescing behind our campaign. And, and, one of the reasons I’m very optimistic is, you look at the impact of Donald Trump, I like Donald. You know others have gone out of their way to smack him, I haven’t.
I think Donald’s campaign has been immensely beneficial for our campaign, and the reason is, he’s framed the central issue of this Republican primary as, who will stand up to Washington? Well, the natural follow up, if that’s the question is, who has actually stood up to Washington? Who has stood up to both Democrats and to leaders of their own party?
CHUCK TODD:
So you think that distinguishes you from Donald Trump and Ben Carson?
SEN. TED CRUZ:
And from everyone else on that stage. I think my record is markedly different in terms of actually standing up and taking on the Washington cartel, and I think that’s why we are seeing – particularly as voters get more and more educated, study the candidates, listen to the candidates in person – I think that’s why we are seeing the grassroots momentum that we’re seeing – is conservatives are coalescing behind our campaign.
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For more information, please contact:
Olivia Petersen
NBC News
202-885-4159
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MEET THE PRESS
“Meet the Press” is where newsmakers come to make news — setting the political agenda and spotlighting the impact Washington decision-making has on people across the country. “Meet the Press” reaches more than 3 million people every Sunday through its broadcasts and millions more through NBCNews.com, the #TweetThePress interview series, Flipboard, and social media platforms. Chuck Todd is the moderator of “Meet the Press” and John Reiss is the executive producer.
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