Ted Cruz: People Are Tired of Politicians Who Say One Thing and Do Another

IFILL: “So, you write in your book that you want to paint in bold colors. That’s the kind of presidency you imagine, the kind of Washington you imagine. Has that worked for you in the Senate? And how would it work as president?”

CRUZ: “Well, as you know, that’s a reference to what Ronald Reagan explained in terms of, number one, how we win, but, number two, how we turn the country around. And he said, we have to paint in bold colors and not pale pastels. And I think that is clearly needed. People are tired of politicians who say one thing and do another. And what I have tried to do in the Senate has really been very simple. It’s been two things. Tell the truth and do what I said I would do.”

IFILL: “You are not known as being an accommodationist. And, in fact, you write in your book and you say at every opportunity, almost everybody else in Washington is. You describe the Washington cartel. Does that include people like Rand Paul and Mitch McConnell, who come in for a little criticism in this book?”

CRUZ: “Well, you know, it’s interesting you say an accommodationist. One of the areas that gets repeated a lot in the media is on compromise, that any conservative likes to be caricatured as you will never compromise.”

IFILL: “Right.”

CRUZ: “I will tell you, someone who has never said that is me. The day I was I elected, I said, listen, I will happily compromise with anyone, Republican, Democrat, independent, libertarian. I have joked I will compromise with Martians if they’re willing to shrink the size and power of the federal government, if they’re willing to promote economic growth, if they’re willing to expand individual liberty. What Washington gets wrong far too often is that too many people compromise going backwards. They compromise in a way that’s worse than the status quo, that digs the hole deeper, that makes it worse.”