Sen. Ted Cruz privately assured New York donors that fighting gay marriage wouldn't be a "top-three priority" of his administration if elected — a "slick" political move that could anger evangelicals and conservatives,
Politico reports.
A secret tape of the Dec. 9 closed-door session with donors was provided by someone who attended the event, where Cruz aimed his remarks at the more moderate GOP audience, Politico reports.
During a question-and-answer period, one donor bluntly told the Texas lawmaker gay marriage was one of the few issues on which the two disagreed.
"So would you say it's like a top-three priority for you — fighting gay marriage?" the donor asked.
"No," Cruz replied.
"I would say defending the Constitution is a top priority. And that cuts across the whole spectrum — whether it's defending [the] First Amendment, defending religious liberty, stopping courts from making public policy issues that are left to the people."
He also said he thought "the 10th Amendment of the Constitution cuts across a whole lot of issues and can bring people together."
"People of New York may well resolve the marriage question differently than the people of Florida or Texas or Ohio," he said, adding later: "That's why we have 50 states — to allow a diversity of views. And so that is a core commitment."
Cruz last June told
National Public Radio that opposition to gay marriage would be "front and center" in his campaign.
"Wow," one unnamed GOP operative wrote in an email to Politico about the New York remarks.
"Does this not undermine all of his positions? Abortion, Common Core — all to the states? ... Worse, he sounds like a slick D.C. politician — says one thing on the campaign trail and trims his sails with NYC elites. Not supposed to be like that."
And an adviser to another presidential contender's campaign said the comment shows Cruz as "calculating."
"There's an Iowa Ted and a New York Ted," the unnamed adviser charged, Politico reports. "He sounds different behind closed doors."
Still another GOP source who works for one of Cruz's rivals tells Politico the stance could risk the Texan's appeal to supporters of retired pediatric neurosurgeon Ben Carson, whose
polling numbers have fallen off as Cruz's have been rising.
But Cruz's spokeswoman, Catherine Frazer, tells Politico the candidate has said nothing inconsistent with his past statements.
"These comments are nothing new. ... This is nothing different from what he says all the time," she tells Politico, which noted in September,
Cruz told talk-show host and comedian Stephen Colbert "The 10th Amendment says: 'If it doesn't mention it, it's a question for the states.'"
Cruz also said he thought the issue of gay marriage was a question for the states in an interview with former talk-show host
Jay Leno in 2013.
"Cruz said his priority is to defend the Constitution," Frazer tells Politico. "Of course marriage is a part of that, as well as free speech, gun rights, religious liberty, and the issues he discusses every day on the campaign trail."
"This is exactly what he said in New York and those trying to misconstrue his words are clearly desperate for something to stop his momentum," she adds. "So they are resorting to dishonest attacks."
Another Cruz remark from the same event, first reported by
The New York Times, raised the "question of judgment" with rivals Donald Trump and Carson.