Cruz confronts Trump supporter

by Ben Kamisar - 05/02/16 1:35 PM ET

Ted Cruz on Monday faced off against Donald Trump supporters who crashed an event in Indiana, where the GOP hopeful is desperately working to upset the front-runner and keep his White House dreams alive.

{mosads}Protestors started chanting “Do the math” during Cruz’s stop in Marion, Ind., prompting the Texas senator to walk up to to a demonstrator holding a Trump campaign sign.

The man, who refused to give his name to reporters but said he had come from Ohio, interrupted Cruz and repeatedly called him “Lyin’ Ted,” Trump’s favorite nickname for his rival.

“With all respect, Donald Trump is deceiving you, playing you for a chump,” Cruz said.

“Ask yourself two questions: One, why is it that the mainstream media so desperately wants Donald Trump to be the Republican nominee? And why is it John Boehner supports Donald Trump?” Cruz asked, referring to the former GOP Speaker from Ohio.

The men stood just a few feet from each other, and were enveloped in a throng of reporters and Cruz supporters.

Cruz repeatedly attempted to make his pitch while the man interrupted him.

The protester chided Cruz for calling on John Kasich to get out of the presidential race, telling him to take his own advice. The man told Cruz that Trump is certain to win the 1,237 delegates needed to clinch the GOP nomination.

“You’ll find out tomorrow,” the man said, “Indiana don’t want you.”

The attacks also got personal at times, with the man jabbing him about rumors of infidelity and panning his Canadian birth. Cruz was also criticized for having ties to Goldman Sachs. Cruz’s wife Heidi worked for the investment bank.

“Where’s your Goldman Sachs jacket? We know your wife works there,” the man said.

When the man told the Texas senator that Trump’s border wall was his “main” issue, Cruz fired back by arguing that Trump told The New York Times he wouldn’t follow through on his immigration proposals. That hasn’t been confirmed, but it’s been long alleged by Cruz and other Trump rivals in light of reports on the paper’s interview with Trump.

“Do you know, on the wall, that Donald Told the New York Times editorial board he’s not going to build a wall and he’s not going to deport anyone,” Cruz said

The man then cut him off by shouting, “You’re lying. Lying Ted.”

Cruz similarly tried to bash Trump on gun rights when the man brought that issue up, noting that he defended gun rights to the Supreme Court while Trump supported the 1990s push to expand background checks and an assault weapons ban.

But the appeal didn’t seem to resonate with the man, who told reporters that Cruz is going to do “nothing” and let the government “take everything from us.”

Cruz trails Trump by more than 9 points one day before Indiana’s primary, according to the latest RealClearPolitics average of polls. With Trump just 241 delegates shy of clinching the nomination, Indiana represents one of Cruz’s last chances at impeding Trump’s path.

Tags Boehner Donald Trump John Boehner Ted Cruz

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