Ted Cruz (R-TX) Says Rush Limbaugh Interview Helped Him Defeat Immigration Reform

Cruz: After “A Half-Hour With Rush Limbaugh,” “Phone Calls Lit Up To The Capitol ... And We Beat It”

From the December 18 edition of Fox News' On The Record with Greta Van Susteren:

Video file

GRETA VAN SUSTEREN (HOST): Yes or no on this. You supported this amendment, you pushed it -- yes, that's the first thing. The second thing is that you're now saying to me that it was part of a strategy, is that right? A strategy to defeat it, right? 

TED CRUZ (R-TX): Of course it was. 

SUSTEREN: I'm just hearing that now that this was part of a strategy. Why in the days and weeks and months after June 4th, 2013, did it never come up that this was a poison pill? 

CRUZ: It came up over, and over, and over again. Chuck Schumer has publicly said he knew it was a poison pill. In the last 24 hours, Senator Jeff Sessions has gone out publicly and said “Ted is right, and Marco's not telling the truth.” Senator Mike Lee has come out publicly and said “Ted is right, Marco's not telling the truth” and Rush Limbaugh has come out publicly and said “Ted is right, Marco's not telling the truth.” Look, I understand that the Washington establishment is in panic, because conservatives are uniting behind our campaign and so, what Marco's campaign wants to -- 

[CROSSTALK]

SUSTEREN: I'm not worried about Senator Marco Rubio, I'm not worried about the Washington establishment. I'm trying to understand this, and just so I -- is that you wanted this amendment to be part of the bill, because it was a poison pill?

CRUZ:  What did my amendment say? 

SUSTEREN: No citizenship. 

CRUZ: Right. Didn't say a word about legalization. 

SUSTEREN: Well, I don't know what the -- you and I read this letter differently. 

CRUZ: Look, you can read the amendment. My amendment said no citizenship, that's it, it was one page. No citizenship. Period, the end, that's all it says.

SUSTEREN: So, this letter with your name on it, your signature, that's just -- 

TED CRUZ: No, what the letter described, and by the way, this is how we beat the gang of eight, let's go back to 2013. You remember it well. 

SUSTEREN: Yeah. 

CRUZ: 2013, the proponents of the gang of eight, Chuck Schumer, Marco Rubio, they were on TV, puffing their chests out saying “We have the votes to pass it, we're going to jam it through the Senate, and then Republican leadership in the House is going to pass it.”  And I stood up with Jeff Sessions and Steve King, we led the fight to defeat it, and we took it to the people. I'll tell you, one of the moments where this entire debate changed powerfully, is in the middle of this fight on the Gang of Eight, I went and spent a half-hour with Rush Limbaugh on the radio and during that half hour, phone calls lit up to the capitol, and the votes moved in the House of Representatives and we beat it. And listen, the Washington establishment is furious that we beat amnesty.

Previously

Rush Limbaugh Defends Ted Cruz From Fox News' Criticism Of His Immigration Dishonesty 

On The Hugh Hewitt Show, Ted Cruz Parrots Limbaugh Smear, Claiming “Majority Of Violent Criminals Are Democrats” 

Ted Cruz Wants Money To Publicize Rush Limbaugh's Praise Of Him 

Limbaugh Brags That He Created A Media Frenzy Over A Marco Rubio-Ted Cruz Feud