Cruz On Muslim Database: I’m ‘Not A Fan Of Govt Registries’ For US Citizens

Sen. Ted Cruz, R-Texas, speaks to reporters waiting outside a closed-door meeting of Senate Republicans as news emerged that leaders reached a last-minute agreement to avert a threatened Treasury default and reopen t... Sen. Ted Cruz, R-Texas, speaks to reporters waiting outside a closed-door meeting of Senate Republicans as news emerged that leaders reached a last-minute agreement to avert a threatened Treasury default and reopen the government after a partial, 16-day shutdown, at the Capitol in Washington, Wednesday, Oct. 16, 2013. Cruz said he would not try to block the agreement. (AP Photo/J. Scott Applewhite) MORE LESS
Start your day with TPM.
Sign up for the Morning Memo newsletter

Sen. Ted Cruz (R-TX) broke with his Republican presidential rival Donald Trump over the idea of creating a federal database to monitor Muslims living in the United States.

“I’m a big fan of Donald Trump’s, but I’m not a fan of government registries for American citizens,” Cruz told Bloomberg Politics during a campaign stop in Sioux City, Iowa.

The Texas Senator cited religious freedom to explain his opposition to the policy.

“The First Amendment protects religious liberty,” he told Bloomberg.

Both presidential candidates have made headlines this week for their comments about Syrian refugees and Muslims living in the U.S.

Cruz has repeatedly called for a religious test to determine which Syrian refugees should be accepted into the U.S., explicitly saying Muslims should be denied entry.

“There is no meaningful risk of Christians committing acts of terror,” he said.

Meanwhile, Trump has offered a confusing procession of statements over whether he would require American Muslims to be registered in a database. After saying he wouldn’t rule out such a program on Thursday morning, the Republican frontrunner doubled down that evening in an NBC interview, saying he would “certainly implement” this kind of database as president.

Trump later distanced himself from the idea on Twitter, pointing out that his initial comments were made in response to a reporter specifically asking if he would condone registering Muslims or issuing them special identification cards that specified their religion.

Latest Livewire

Notable Replies

  1. Avatar for schmed schmed says:

    "There is no meaningful risk of Christians committing acts of terror,” he said.

    Christians like Dylann Roof?

  2. Oh, NO! The GOP field has slipped so far right that Cruz is sounding reasonable!

  3. Carnival must have forgotten about Christian Identity, the militiaboys of the 90s and the Hugenots in France.

  4. Avatar for caltg caltg says:

    Or Christians like Timothy McVeigh, Terry Nichols, Frazier Glenn Cross (Carolina KKK), Jim David Adkisson, the murderers of numerous abortion doctors and their fellow travellers who set bombs at women’s health clinics, and oh, the list goes on and on.

  5. Avatar for caltg caltg says:

    And of course, Teddy Cruz might have noted that any such registry would be unconstitutional.

Continue the discussion at forums.talkingpointsmemo.com

15 more replies

Participants

Avatar for system1 Avatar for austin_dave Avatar for imkmu3 Avatar for leftflank Avatar for humpback Avatar for fargo116 Avatar for krusher Avatar for sniffit Avatar for daveyjones64 Avatar for arc_of_the_universe Avatar for ottnott Avatar for geofu54 Avatar for schmed Avatar for darrtown Avatar for pshah Avatar for edhedh Avatar for caltg

Continue Discussion
Masthead Masthead
Founder & Editor-in-Chief:
Executive Editor:
Managing Editor:
Deputy Editor:
Editor at Large:
General Counsel:
Publisher:
Head of Product:
Director of Technology:
Associate Publisher:
Front End Developer:
Senior Designer: