In an interview with WABC's Rita Cosby, Ted Cruz said that he not only believes he can beat front-runner Donald Trump, but he also said that the real estate tycoon's supporters will end up voting for him instead,
Politico reports.
Cosby asked Cruz if he could eventually beat Trump based on his principles. Cruz said, "I think in time I don't believe Donald is going to be the nominee and I think in time the lion's share of his supporters end up with us," the freshman senator said.
Cruz added, "If you look to the records of all the Republican candidates there's a big difference between my record and that of everyone else if you ask, who has stood up to Washington? Who's taken on not just Democrats, but taken on leaders in their own party? Republican leadership, whether was leading the fight to stop Obamacare? Whether it was leading the fight to stop executive amnesty?
"Or actually, just going back to last week. You know at the last Republican debate in California, every Republican candidate stood up there and said, 'we need to defund Planned Parenthood.' But last week, when we had an epic drag down fight in Washington, not one of them showed up."
Dan Scavino, an adviser for Trump, responded to the Texas senator on Twitter:
However, unlike other GOP presidential candidates, Cruz has not criticized Trump for being in the race.
"I think his involvement has been tremendously helpful to my campaign, because it's framed the central question of this primary as who will stand up to Washington." Cruz said.
Naturally, Cruz said the next question will be, "Who actually has stood up to Washington? Who has a record in that regard?"