A newly subdued Donald Trump left Sen. Ted Cruz (R-TX) momentarily speechless during an exchange on lobbyist influence at Thursday’s Republican presidential debate.
Cruz kicked off the back-and-forth by trumpeting his record of calling for the elimination of specific programs at the risk of alienating the lobbyists and fellow D.C. politicians who promote them.
“When you specify the programs you would eliminate, then you get attacked,” Cruz said. As an example, the Texas senator pointed to his vocal opposition to ethanol mandates while campaigning in Iowa, a major corn-growing state.
“Everyone said that was political suicide,” Cruz said. “You can’t take on ethanol in Iowa. And my opponents on this stage not only didn’t do the same, they attacked me and even promised to expand corporate welfare.”
Trump was then invited to respond and took the opportunity to knock Cruz for changing his stance on the issue.
“Ted did change his view and his stance on ethanol quite a bit at the end,” Trump said. “Not full on, but he did change his view in the hopes of maybe doing well. And you know, I think everybody knows that. It was a front page story all over the place, and he did make a change.”
Cruz stood speechless for a beat or two while looking down at the podium. Then he continued his rant against the Washington, D.C. establishment without addressing Trump’s specific charges.
Watch below:
