Cruz Campaign Press Release - ICYMI: Has Marco Rubio Lost Conservatives By Falsely Attacking Cruz?

HOUSTON, Texas – Today, the New York Times reported that Senator Marco Rubio's false attacks on Ted Cruz's immigration record are beginning to backfire as "influential conservatives are now rallying to Mr. Cruz's side and denouncing Mr. Rubio."

New York Times Highlights Conservative Ire Over Rubio Attacks

"Senator Marco Rubio made a big bet on an immigration overhaul that failed – and he has been running away from it since. Now his past is catching up with him, stoking old grievances from conservative rivals who are reopening one of the most vulnerable episodes in his past.

"The anger toward Mr. Rubio on the right has only grown in recent days as he has taken to aggressively questioning Senator Ted Cruz's toughness on illegal immigration, a line of attack that some Republicans say they find disingenuous...

"His recent attacks on Mr. Cruz are backfiring as some influential conservatives are now rallying to Mr. Cruz's side and denouncing Mr. Rubio."

Reactions to Rubio's Attacks from Conservative Leaders:

Rush Limbaugh:

"Look if you're trying to follow this Rubio Cruz thing...I'm going to tell you what it is all about. Which is very simple. Marco Rubio was part of the Gang of Eight trying to secure amnesty and wishes he wasn't. Ted Cruz never was and they're trying to make it out like he was."

Mark Levin:

"This is a friendly warning to Marco Rubio and his campaign donors, advisers, and consultants that they cannot wash away some of Rubio's less than stellar legislative actions and related positions and pronouncements by embracing and unleashing Saul Alinsky-type tactics against Ted Cruz or other conservatives. Such unprincipled ambition has not and will not go unnoticed by conservatives. Rather than proudly standing on his own record, and contrasting his positions honestly with those of Cruz, the latter of whom is clearly the more conservative and anti-establishment candidate, Rubio and his surrogates have launched a propaganda campaign against Cruz in a deceitful attempt to distort his record."

Michelle Malkin:

"Rubio's brazenly fraudulent campaign to paint Cruz as soft on illegal immigration is a flabbergasting attempt to distract from the Florida junior senator's faithful allegiance to the open-borders donor class."

Sen. Jeff Sessions:

"Senator Cruz stood with me. We recognized that the talking points that Senator Rubio and others were using to describe this monumental bill were not accurate. It would not do the things they said it would do... This presidential election is going to decide who runs the White House: the crowd that pushed this legislation or the crowd that opposed it."

Sen. Mike Lee:

"And insofar as anybody is trying to suggest that Ted Cruz and Marco Rubio had the same position with regard to amnesty or with regard to the Gang of Eight bill, that is absolutely false. 100% false."

Congressman Steve King:

"The border security, rule of law people voted with Ted Cruz. The pro-amnesty people voted with Marco Rubio and others, so that's how I would characterize it.

Rep. Jim Bridenstine:

"Marco Rubio was part of the Gang of Eight bill that provided amnesty for millions of people that are here illegally without securing the southern border of the United States, and the American people are aware of that – and by the way, that's terrible for national security. Marco Rubio knows that. He knows that's going to be an issue and that's why he's trying to distract people."

Brent Bozell:

"Senator Rubio must be held to account for distorting Senator Ted Cruz's position on immigration. Rubio has been a fine conservative on certain issues, but on immigration, he is flat-out wrong. Rubio must address his active support for pro-amnesty politicians like Sen. Chuck Schumer as well as his support for giving citizenship to illegal immigrants."

Bob Vander Plaats:

"It's fair to have policy differences within the Party, and I think it's helpful to have that debate. What we shouldn't do is intentionally mislead Americans about the positions of others — and it's disappointing Senator Rubio has chosen that path. The record is clear: Senator Rubio supported the Gang of Eight, which granted amnesty and wouldn't have secured the border. Senator Cruz was a leading voice against the Gang of Eight and amnesty, and for securing our border. Perhaps even more disappointing is that Senator Rubio explicitly ran against amnesty to get elected in 2010. I think that deeply hurts his credibility with Iowans as they evaluate who they can trust as president to do what he said he would do."