Republican presidential candidate Sen. Ted Cruz (R-TX) explained Monday night how his “New York values” attack line helped him triumph over rival Donald Trump in the Iowa caucuses.
Cruz told ABC News after giving his victory speech that voters everywhere he goes, including in Iowa and New Hampshire, know “what New York values are.”
“I can’t tell you how many New Yorkers tell me, ‘I’m a New Yorker and I’m with you. I know exactly what New York values are and I can’t stand them,'” Cruz said. “It’s the values of the elite liberals that have done enormous damage to New York and they’re a bunch of cops and firemen and hardworking men and women in the great state of New York who are fed up with the out-of-touch values of Manhattan.”
Cruz ran a TV ad in the Hawkeye State the week before the caucuses that showed Trump saying in a 1999 “Meet The Press” interview that “my views are little different than if I lived in Iowa” because he hailed from Manhattan.
The Texas Republican told ABC News that his own “values” better aligned with voters.
“This is a center-right country. The values of this country are reasonable, common sense,” Cruz said. “Their Judeo-Christian values are the reason our campaign is resonating and resonating among Reagan Democrats in particular is because getting back to the principles that built America and those principles bring us together.”
Cruz added that he would “praise” Trump for being “bold” on the campaign trail.
