Cruz: 'ISIS Will Take Over Syria' if Assad Is Toppled

Instead of getting into the middle of Syria's civil war, the United States' focus should be on killing ISIS, GOP candidate Ted Cruz said on Wednesday, and that doesn't mean taking out Syrian President Bashar al-Assad.

"ISIS has declared war on America," the Texas Republican said during an extensive interview with MSNBC "Morning Joe" host Joe Scarborough. "We shouldn't be trying to find these mythical moderate rebels. We keep being told they're going to exist and they turn out to all be jihadist. We were told in Libya the rebels were these moderate rebels and we're repeating those mistakes."

But toppling Assad would be a mistake, he insisted.

"[President] Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton and people like Sen. [Marco] Rubio have not learned the lessons of Libya and Egypt, because what are they trying to do? Topple Assad," Cruz said.

The Syrian leader is a "bad man and a monster," conceded Cruz, but if he is taken out, "ISIS will take over Syria and it will be worse."

Cruz commented that about a year ago, a foreign minister from the Middle East told him that it is "very hard to be friends with America right now," which "hurts to hear, but it is the reality of it. "

Also on Thursday, Cruz discussed the latest controversy concerning his rival candidate Donald Trump and his statements about banning Muslims entering the country temporarily, and said he still rules out slamming Trump or any other GOP candidate.

"I disagree with the proposal," said Cruz. "The question I get day in and day out, please attack Donald Trump and I point out my approach to Trump has been the same to every other Republican candidate.

"I'm not interested in personal insults and mudslinging. You think of the first two debates which were a food fight. I stayed out of that and spoke little the first two debates because I don't think the American people want to hear bunch of politicians bickering like kids."

Further, he said, the media "wants to play theater critics and critique every other proposal. What I'm focusing on are my own."

Cruz this week introduced legislation to put a three-year moratorium on refugees from countries where ISIS and al-Qaida control substantial territory.

"That's our first obligation, keep the country safe," said Cruz. "I believe in peace through strength and I believe the focus of the U.S. policy should be securing the natural interest of this country . . . It's the [Ronald] Reagan approach. We need to focus on killing bad guys."

Related Stories:

• Cruz Refuses to Slam Trump, But Offers His Own Plan to Bar Refugees
• Obama Administration Calls for Turkey to Seal Off Syrian Border