Senator Ted Cruz (R-TX) sat down for an exclusive interview with ABC News’ Jonathan Karl following his speech at the annual Conservative Political Action Conference (CPAC), and from the beginning was met with a barrage of questions over his outspoken criticism of President Obama.
The interview, which aired on Sunday’s This Week w/ George Stephanopoulos, featured a myriad of topics including repealing ObamaCare. During the segment, Senator Cruz mocked how the “media treats that as a bizarre proposition” to which Karl laughed and asserted “it is because he’s not going to sign it. It is a bizarre proposition.”
Karl began his ObamaCare questioning by opining how “Cruz quickly became one of the right’s biggest, most controversial stars. He then brought up recent comments he made that were directed at the senator, in which he argued that Cruz is “going to need a food tester [1]” before obnoxiously asking Cruz if he had “considered that.”
After Cruz swatted down Karl’s charged question, the ABC reporter then tried to get the GOPer to admit that repealing ObamaCare was “not going to happen while Barack Obama is president.” Despite Cruz’s insistence that “Every single word of ObamaCare” would be repealed, Karl continued to berate the Tea Party senator over the issue.
Cruz’s willingness to point out the media’s bias towards ObamaCare was a teachable moment and exposed the lengths journalists have gone to minimize Republican objections to ObamaCare and simply reject their criticism as a “bizarre proposition.”
See relevant transcript below.
ABC's This Week with George Stephanopoulos
March 9, 2014
10:29 a.m. Eastern
JONATHAN KARL: But upsetting well-established Republicans is precisely how Cruz quickly became one of the right’s biggest, most controversial stars. He's utterly unfazed by the return fire he's taking from those who say he's hurting the party with his brand of no compromise politics. So The Wall Street Journal called you a minority maker. And I took a little heat for saying at that Tuesday lunch they have every Tuesday he’s going to need a food taster. So tell me, have you considered that?
TED CRUZ: Well, Jon I’ll tell you, you’ve become somewhat of a folk hero back in Texas. We went back and I had multiple gatherings where people came up and actually asked if they could serve as the food taster.
KARL: If Republicans win back the Senate this fall, he vows to push harder. You had a very big applause line out here, you said we will repeal –
CRUZ: Every single word of ObamaCare.
KARL: We can acknowledge that's not going to happen while Barack Obama is president, right?
CRUZ: I'll give you one scenario where it could, if there's one thing that unifies politicians of both parties, is their top priority is preserving their own hide. And if enough congressional Democrats realize they either stand with ObamaCare and lose or they listen to the American people and have a chance of staying in office, that's the one scenario we could do it in 2015. If not, we'll do it in 2017.
KARL: So you honestly think there's a chance that you can get ObamaCare repealed? Every word, as you say?
CRUZ: very single word.
KARL: Even with Obama in the White House.
CRUZ: What’s funny Jon is the media treats that as a bizarre proposition.
KARL: Well it is because he’s not going to sign it. It is a bizarre proposition.
CRUZ: It is the most unpopular law in the country. Millions of people have lost their jobs, lost their health care, have been forced into part-time work, have their premiums skyrocketing. And right now Washington isn't listening to these people. That's how we win elections and that’s also how we repeal ObamaCare.
KARL: In other words, expect an even feistier Ted Cruz if Republicans win big in the fall.
— Jeffrey Meyer is a News Analyst at the Media Research Center. Follow Jeffrey Meyer on Twitter. [2]