NASHVILLE, Tenn. — Republican presidential candidate Ted Cruz opened his remarks to National Rifle Association members Friday describing his disgust with the president’s description of the 2010 Fort Hood shooting as “work place violence.” Cruz began Friday at the Army Base in Texas and told the audience that the military personnel who were killed or wounded by Nidal Hassan were finally awarded the purple heart.
“It is a time for truth. you cannot win a war on radical Islamic terrorism with a president who is unwilling to utter the words ‘radical Islamic terrorists.’ Instead of a president who boycotts Prime Minister Netenyahu,” Cruz told the NRA audience. “Imagine America standing unapologetically with the nation of Israel. Imagine a commander in chief standing up with clarity, saying ‘We will defeat radical Islamic terrorists.’”
The Texas Republican then shifted his remarks to the White House’s nuclear talks with Iran.
“And under no circumstances will the nation of Iran be allowed to acquire nuclear weapons. Some weeks ago I joined with 46 other senators signing a letter we sent to Iran explaining that under the United States Constitution there are only two ways something becomes a law — either it is a treaty ratified by two thirds of the Senate or a law passed by both houses of Congress signed by the president. The Obama White House went a little hysterical about that letter.”
Cruz also discussed his Second Amendment bonafides telling the firearm supporters, “When I was the solicitor general of Texas I led a coalition of 31 states before the United States Supreme Court defending the Second Amendment right to keep and bear arms and we won 5-4 —-a landmark decision upholding that right.”
He went further remarking, “President Obama had an opportunity then. He could of brought people together in a bipartisan manner to say let’s go after violent felons. Let’s go after criminals. Let’s protect our kids and stop the bad guys, but instead he used it as an excuse to come after the Second Amendment right of law abiding citizens.”
Cruz revealed how helpless Republicans felt after the tragic Sandy Hook shooting when Democrats proposed gun control legislation.
“In the weeks and months that followed Sandy Hook, if you guys were sitting in the Senate Republican lunch, you’da jumped out the window, because the sentiment there was ‘This is unstoppable,’” Cruz explained.
“This is a freight train that can’t be stopped let’s get out of the way. And I tell you I was proud to stand with my friends Mike Lee and Rand Paul in sending a very short two sentence letter to Harry Reid saying we will filibuster any legislation that undermines the Second Amendment right to keep and bear arms.”