Support for Texas Sen. Ted Cruz's presidential campaign will only increase as the GOP field winnows, The Family Leader CEO Bob Vander Plaats tells
Newsmax TV.
"There's a lot of optimism," said Monday on "Newsmax Prime." "It's also just a real clear data point of Marco Rubio having all those endorsements and still he came in a distant second and tied for second basically."
Cruz has shown that he can defeat front-runner Donald Trump as he did in Iowa, Vander Plaats told host J.D. Hayworth. "When it becomes a one-on-one, a clear contrast, Ted Cruz is going to win that battle. I'd say let's have conservatives coalesce and let's start winning some of these states."
Still, he said, he doesn’t want to predict Tuesday's Nevada caucuses where there are still five candidates in the race.
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Front-runner Donald Trump is still benefitting from a divided filed, Vander Plaats said. Internal Cruz polling shows a narrowing filed drawing more support to Cruz, he added.
"It's very early in the process," Vander Plaats said. "You need 1,230 something delegates. I believe [Trump] has 61 at current count. It's a long ways to go. As this field narrows, it's going to be real stark contrast between a true conservative and someone who's come to conservatism rather recently."
On other issues, Vander Plaats:
• Said he doesn't believe Liberty University President Jerry Falwell Jr.'s endorsement of Trump swayed large numbers of evangelical voters. "I think what it is is that you got [Florida Sen. Marco] Rubio and Cruz and a few others that are still dividing that vote. … When the focus is there on Trump vs. say Cruz, I think Cruz will win that battle every time."
• Said Cruz national campaign spokesman Rick Tyler is a professional, but made a mistake
tweeting out a video erroneously purporting to show Rubio criticizing the Bible. Ted Cruz has got such a high bar of integrity in this campaign that his best interest is to say, 'Rick, you've served me well, but I need you to resign right now. I know it was a mistake, but it's a mistake that needs to be held accountable for,'" Vander Plaats said.
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