Republican presidential candidate and U.S. Sen. Ted Cruz made a campaign stop in Little Rock on Wednesday, calling himself a "consistent conservative" and saying he believes Arkansas will play a "critical" role in the primary election.
"They've sped the process up now," he said. "So it's going to start, as it always does, with Iowa, New Hampshire and South Carolina. Those three states are incredibly important and we are all in in all three of those states. ... But then, boom, 10 days later is Super Tuesday. It is the so-called SEC Primary. ... And the role of Arkansas and the other states throughout the SEC is going to be to make sure that the next Republican nominee for president is a real and genuine conservative."
Cruz, of Texas, spoke to reporters at Republican Party of Arkansas headquarters in downtown Little Rock shortly before he addressed several hundred supporters at a rally in the facility's parking lot.
Speaking on a stage just outside his campaign bus, Cruz vowed as president to secure the border, repeal the Affordable Care Act, abolish the IRS and the federal Department of Education, end Common Core, institute a flat tax and "rip to shreds" the Iran nuclear deal.
He called Iran a sponsor of terrorism and repeated a statement, which had previously drawn criticism, that if the proposed nuclear deal goes through, President Barack Obama's administration will become "the world's leading state financier of radical Islamic terrorism."
Cruz noted that statement drew rebukes from Obama himself as well as some Republicans, but he said he stands by it.
"Those jihadists will use those billions of dollars to murder Americans and Israelis and Europeans," Cruz said. "If President Obama doesn't like the rhetoric of his administration being the world's leading financier of radical Islamic terrorism, there's an easy solution to that. Stop financing radical Islamic terrorism."
Speaking to reporters beforehand, Cruz also voiced strong opposition to ending the Cuba trade embargo despite support from some in Arkansas. Many farmers are reportedly eager to export crops to the island nation; Gov. Asa Hutchinson is set to lead a trade delegation there next month.
"I think national security matters," he said. "Cuba has been an exporter of terrorism throughout Latin America. The Castros are cruel, oppressive dictators that torture and oppress their citizens. You know my family fled Cuba. I understand this firsthand. ... The nice thing about people in Arkansas and also in Texas is we understand the first priority of a president, the first priority of a commander-in-chief is to protect the national security of this country."
Cruz was scheduled to make appearances later Wednesday in Russellville and Van Buren.
His visit to the state comes after Arkansas moved up its primary election from May to March in part to have increased say in choosing the presidential nominees. Former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee, a Republican, in May announced his presidential campaign in Hope, and fellow Republican and businessman Donald Trump spoke last month at the Republican Party's Reagan-Rockefeller dinner in Hot Springs.
On the Democratic side, presidential candidate and former Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton spoke last month at the state Democratic Party's Jefferson-Jackson Dinner in North Little Rock.
Follow ArkansasOnline for updates, and read Thursday's Arkansas Democrat-Gazette for full details.
