Bob Dole, the former congressman, senator, and Republican vice presidential and presidential nominee, called Sen. Ted Cruz (R-TX) an “extremist” who nobody likes in a Wednesday interview with The New York Times.
Dole had said in November that he liked “nearly all” the candidates in the GOP race, with the exception of Cruz. But he used much stronger language when discussing Cruz’s candidacy with the Times this week.
“I question his allegiance to the party,” Dole was quoted as saying. “I don’t know how often you’ve heard him say the word ‘Republican’—not very often.”
Dole told the Times that while Cruz prefers the term “conservative,” the word that comes to his mind to describe Cruz is “extremist.”
“I don’t know how he’s going to deal with Congress,” he continued. “Nobody likes him.”
Dole added that he thought it would be more difficult for Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton to beat Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump in the general election than it would be to defeat Cruz.
