Northwest Iowa — Iowa 4th District United States Congressman Steve King has placed his endorsement on a Republican presidential candidate.
King has endorsed Texas Senator Ted Cruz, saying Cruz can restore the soul of America.
King praises “outsider” candidates Ben Carson and Donald Trump, but King says neither as familiar with the “organism” of Washington, D.C. as Cruz is.
Cruz is a lawyer from Texas who gained national attention soon after he was first elected to the U.S. Senate in 2012. In 2013, Cruz led a group of conservatives seeking a showdown with President Obama over the Affordable Care Act, prompting a brief government shutdown.
King says Cruz can get the crucial support of Christian conservatives, but King admits Cruz has to work on mending relationships with the G-O-P’s establishment in order to unite the party and be its nominee.
King has been traveling overseas and made his decision to back Cruz on Friday. King is one of the staunchest critics of what he calls “amnesty” for undocumented immigrants. King says his public endorsement is timed, in part, to respond to recent questions of Cruz’s stand on the issue.
King says during debate of comprehensive immigration reform a few years ago, Cruz offered “strategic” amendments designed to “pry out” the real motives of bill backers, but King says he’s confident Cruz is on the same page with him when it comes to “amnesty.” King also says as the dean of the Iowa congressional delegation, he didn’t want to “squander” his opportunity to influence the presidential race and that’s why he’s endorsing now. King held a news conference this morning to make his announcement. He made a similar move in late 2007, publicly throwing his support behind Fred Thompson in the lead up to the 2008 Iowa Caucuses. Congressman King did NOT endorse a G-O-P candidate in 2012.
