Carly Fiorina Endorses Ted Cruz
Former Republican presidential candidate Carly Fiorina endorsed her one-time rival, Senator Ted Cruz in a campaign event held in Miami, Florida.
“I checked the box for Ted Cruz,” Fiorina said, in a surprise appearance. “And I am here to tell you why.”
Calling Cruz a “leader and reformer to challenge the system in Washington,” Fiorina declared that Cruz is a leader who challenges the status quo, by making enemies taking on the political class. “We need a leader and a reformer to challenge the system in Washington and fix the festering problems of our broken immigration system or the IRS,” she said. “Ted Cruz has made enemies by taking on the political class. They’re scared we found our guy.”
She added that Cruz is the “only conservative that will be able to unite the Republican Party,” that can defeat Donald Trump. “The only way to beat Donald Trump is to beat him at the ballot box,” Fiorina said. “And guess what, the only guy who can beat Donald Trump, who has beaten Donald Trump is Ted Cruz.”
Comparing Trump to Democratic front-runner Hillary Clinton, Fiorina stated that both are “two sides of the same coin” who she is horrified at the Republican front-runner becoming the nominee. “Some in our party are saying they’d prefer a liberal like Donald Trump because he is a deal maker and there are also many Republicans who are now horrified at the prospect of Donald Trump as our nominee. I am one of them,” Fiorina said. “They’d prefer a liberal like Donald Trump because he is a deal maker. We’ve had enough of the deals, enough of the cronyism. Donald Trump buys politicians like Hillary Clinton and then we are surprised when Washington continues only to serve the big, the powerful, the wealthy, and the well-connected.”
She went on to add that she will continue to “raise her voice” as to why Hillary can’t be the next president. “You know I have been relentless in my criticisms against Hillary Clinton,” she stated. “We need to go on to win in November by beating Hillary Clinton. And I will continue to raise my voice to men and women across this country about why she cannot be our Commander in Chief.”
Fiorina’s endorsement came just hours after Super Tuesday 2, where Trump extended his delegate lead to 458, 99 more than Cruz who has 359 at the moment. The Texas Senator has a week left to close the gap to prevent Trump from winning the nomination, especially in critical winner-take-all-primaries in Florida and Ohio. If Trump wins Florida, a state of 99 delegates are awarded to the winner, he has ran away with the nomination. Cruz has chosen to stop Trump’s momentum, by trying to remove Rubio from the picture. Opening 10 offices and investing much time and money in Rubio’s own home state, Cruz might succeed in ruining Rubio chances, eliminating him as well and closing the race to a two-man showdown between him and Trump.
Cruz’s campaign issued a statement on Fiorina’s endorsement:
“Carly Fiorina is a strong, principled leader and woman of faith,” said Cruz. “Our campaign is stronger with her leadership and her voice. Her story embodies the promise that in America anyone can start as a secretary and become a Fortune 50 CEO. Carly speaks the truth with courage, doesn’t back down to the Washington power brokers, and terrifies Hillary and the Democrats. We are blessed to have her support, and together I am confident we will continue to unite conservatives so that every American has the opportunity to achieve the unimaginable.”
Honored to earn @carlyfiorina‘s endorsement: https://t.co/DQARLNSKMV
Join the #CruzCrew: https://t.co/d6gn8DV1xy pic.twitter.com/IBgCuNG227
— Ted Cruz (@tedcruz) March 9, 2016
