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Ted Cruz: Republican candidate's views on immigration, climate change and gun control

He doesn't like guns, illegal immigrants, or talk of gun control after 'horrific' mass shootings

Justin Carissimo
Thursday 06 August 2015 20:57 EDT
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Ted Cruz will go head to head with his rival candidates in the Republican debate
Ted Cruz will go head to head with his rival candidates in the Republican debate (Getty Images)

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Head shot of Andrew Feinberg

Andrew Feinberg

White House Correspondent

The Canadian born Ted Cruz is a favourite amongst conservative voters and donors. Here are his stances on the issues.

Immigration

The son of a Cuban immigrant, Senator Cruz is quite vocal against illegal immigration. He aspires to end President Barack Obama’s amnesty and was the only Republican to applaud Donald Trumps inflammatory rhetoric against Mexicans.

“I salute Donald Trump for focusing on the need to address illegal immigration. The Washington cartel doesn’t want to address that.”

Climate Change

Senator Cruz does not believe in climate change. On Sunday, the Republican said that scientists have skewed their reports to help “greedy” politicians fill their pockets.

“If you look at satellite data for the last 18 years, there’s been zero recorded warming. The satellite says it ain’t happening," he said, according to TIME.

"They're cooking the books. They’re actually adjusting the numbers. Enron used to do their books the same way."

Gun Control

Mr Cruz is a proponent of the right to bare arms. So much that he made a joke which fell completely flat after the Charleston, South Carolina massacre, in which a gunman fatally shot nine black parishioners.

“You know the great thing about the state of Iowa is, I’m pretty sure you all define gun control the same way we do in Texas — hitting what you aim at,” he joked.

He later blamed Democrats for using the shooting as an opportunity "to take away the Second Amendment rights of law abiding citizens.”

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