CALIFORNIA YANKEE

Trump Collapsing in South Carolina

A new Wall Street Journal/NBC News/Marist poll, released Friday, finds that what had been a 16-point lead for Donald Trump is now only 5 points:

• Donald Trump - 28%
• Ted Cruz - 23%
• Marco Rubio - 15%
• Jeb Bush - 13%
• Ben Carson - 9%
• John Kasich - 9%.

Trump's decline among South Carolina Republicans came a day after a WSJ/NBC News national poll of Republican primary voters found that Trump lost his once-commanding lead and fallen behind Cruz. Most national polls, and the Real Clear Politics average for the South Carolina Republican Presidential Primary show Trump with a double-digit lead over his rivals.

The new Journal/NBC/Marist poll in South Carolina was conducted Feb. 15-17, after Trump's abysmal performance during the CBS South Carolina GOP Debate. The poll's margin of error was plus or minus 3.6 percent for the Republicans.

The new poll also found that that Hillary Clinton maintains a wide lead over Bernie Sanders among likely South Carolina Democrat primary voters.

• Hillary Clinton - 60%
• Bernie Sanders - 32%

Hillary maintains a huge advantage among the state’s African-American population, especially older black voters -- out polling Sanders 78% to 12%. Sanders leads Hillary among white voters, 51% to 46%. The poll's margin of error was plus or minus 4.8 percent for the Democrats.

South Carolina is starting to look a lot like Iowa.

Cross posted from RedState.

Wouldn't You Like More Ads Like 'Stop'

The presidential Campaign of Sen. Ted Cruz is out with a powerful new ad entitled "Stop." But before we look at the ad, lets complain about negative ads. People hate and complain about negative political ads. When they ask why so many ads are negative the response is always that negative ads work. When campaign strategists say negative ads work they mean voters remember the negative ads more than they remember the positive ones.

If you think you are seeing more negative ads during this presidential campaign you are right. As of  April 9, 2015, 96 percent of the 321 2016 presidential election-related ads that had been on TV were negative:

That's right -- just 4% have been about promoting a positive message for the future. The rest have been about tarring the other side.

This is a change from previous presidential campaigns:

By this point in the 2008 and 2012 cycles, all the way-too-early ads that had aired (except for a few retreads from previous cycles that wound up on the air either by mistake or in haste) sought to build candidates up, not tear them down.

Fox News reports that in Iowa this presidential campaign, Trump and Rubio were each targeted in 13 negative ads, more than any of the other candidates. Former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush was only hit with five. Cruz produced more negative ads than any other candidate, but a single Trump spot attacking Cruz on immigration aired 1,377 times -- among the highest of all negative ads. The single most-aired negative ad was paid for by a Jeb Bush-supporting Super PAC attacking Rubio for flip-flopping on a variety of issues.

So it's nice to see ad like the Cruz Campaign's "Stop" -- a positive 60 second message launched Thursday. In the ad, Cruz restates his commitment to standing with the American people and not Washington dealmakers, while laying out his positive, conservative vision for America. You can watch the ad below:

 CRUZ: Washington deals. It's why we have a $19 trillion debt.
 
Some candidates have promised to cut more deals with the Democrats. Others already have. I won't.
 
Washington deals are bankrupting our kids and grand kids. It has to stop.
 
I’ve stood up to the Washington lobbyists – like when I took on the ethanol mandate in Iowa. They said it was political suicide. My opponents attacked me, promising more cronyism and more corporate welfare.
 
I didn't back down... and we won.
 
As President I will say no to amnesty, repeal ObamaCare, abolish the IRS and defend the Constitution.
 
When Washington deal makers push, I won't flinch.
 
I will stand firm with the American people, whether Washington likes it or not.
 
VOICEOVER: No wonder conservatives like Rush Limbaugh are saying:
 
RUSH: “…There is no other choice for you in this campaign than Ted Cruz.”
 
“This is the closest in our lifetimes we have ever been to Ronald Reagan.”
 
CRUZ: I'm Ted Cruz, and I approve this message.

The ad is currently running statewide in South Carolina. Let's hope we see more powerful and positive ads like this from all the campaigns.

Cross posted from RedState.

Group Backing Ted Cruz Drops $2 Million On Advertising And Field Operations For Nevada Caucuses

The New York Times reports that the Sen. Ted Cruz supporting Super PAC Keep the Promise I, is spending  $573,000 to air two television ads in Nevada ahead of the Republican Caucuses on Feb. 23, two days after the South Carolina GOP Primary. The ads are mostly positive, focusing on Mr. Cruz, but one takes a shot at Sen. Marco Rubio. 

The group also plans to distribute 100,000 mail pieces highlighting Marco Rubio’s record on immigration, cap-and-trade, military spending and Libya:

"You are only as good as the company you keep…" the mailer reads, with Mr. Rubio, a senator from Florida, pictured beside images of Hillary Clinton and Senators Chuck Schumer of New York and Harry Reid of Nevada.

In addition, Keep the Promise 1 has 13 paid staff members and about 75 canvassers in the state and has hired Nathan Emens, a local operative, to oversee its Nevada ground game. Team Cruz is obviously hoping to duplicate its ground game-led come from behind Iowa victory and is using its network of Super PACs to do more than advertise.

According to USA Today, Keep the Promise 1 is spending more than $2 million in Nevada.

The Promise network of Super PACs is expanding. Keep the Promise to Veterans, launched last week and is led by former Texas Gov. Rick Perry. This group will focus on veterans' issues and recruit high-profile veterans to back Cruz, like Dakota Meyer, a Marine Corps veteran who received the  Medal of Honor for heroism in Afghanistan.

Cross posted from RedState.

If Trump Didn't Like the Cruz Supreme Trust Ad He Will Have Another Melt Down Over the Donald's Choice Ad

Donald Trump was so unhappy about the Cruz Campaign's Supreme Trust ad that he sent a "cease and desist" letter demanding that the Cruz campaign immediately stop running the ad featuring Trump currently running in South Carolina. During an epic press conference Sen. Ted Cruz rejected Trump's frivolous demands. In its response the Cruz campaign said the ad is not an attempt to mislead the public:

The objective of the ad is precisely the opposite – to provide the voters of South Carolina with important and accurate information so that they can make an informed decision when they go to the polls.

The Cruz response goes on to say that every statement in the ad concerning Mr. Trump’s pro-abortion views comes from Mr. Trump’s own mouth. According to the Cruz campaign, the point of the ad is that they do not believe Mr. Trump’s recent campaign claim that he is pro-life and the voters should not believe Mr. Trump either:

"Mr. Trump’s implausible claim that he is pro-life doesn’t meet a reality test," said Rick Tyler, a campaign spokesman. "His words and actions simply cannot be reconciled. Mr. Trump last week said that Planned Parenthood does do wonderful things, but supporting Planned Parenthood is incompatible with holding the pro-life position Mr. Trump is now claiming."

It's good to see Cruz to respond to the Donald's constant threats to sue.

If Trump didn't care for Supreme Trust ad, he will have another melt down like those he had during the CBS South Carolina Republican Debate over the Donald's Choice ad released Wednesday by the Cruz-supporting
Courageous Conservatives PAC. The ad goes on to reference three names Trump has floated as possible replacements for Justice Scalia. Watch the ad:

Justice Scalia’s death reminds us the next President will pick as many as four Supreme Court Justices and hundreds of other federal judges.

Just who would Donald Trump pick?

One person Trump suggested took Roy Moore off the Alabama Supreme Court for displaying the Ten Commandments.

Another forced Indiana to fund Planned Parenthood.

And one more who threw out New Jersey’s Partial Birth Abortion Ban.

Everything is on the line now: our rights.

Our freedoms. Our America. And the courts are the battleground.

So who do you trust? Who do you trust to fill our federal courts?

Donald Trump with his New York values?

Or Ted Cruz, who won cases before the Supreme Court protecting gun rights, religious freedom and against the World Court.

Saturday’s our last chance South Carolina!

Don’t blow it.

Ted Cruz. For President.

Let’s take our country back. Now. Before It’s Too Late. 

The three judges are Alabama’s former Attorney General Bill Pryor, who in 2003 backed a decision to oust Chief Justice Roy Moore from his position for refusing to follow a federal court order that he remove a monument of the Ten Commandments from the front of the state’s judicial building. Seventh Circuit Judge Diane Sykes, who authored an opinion striking down an Indiana law that would have defunded Planned Parenthood, and Trump’s older sister, Maryanne Trump Barry, who in her first year as an appellate judge for the Third Circuit wrote a decision that overturned a New Jersey law banning late-term abortions.

Cross posted from RedState.

Is Trump Now The Republican's Establishment-Lane Candidate?

Judging by Wednesday's morning headlines about the not necessarily dependable new polling, the main stream media seems to be all set to declare Donald Trump the presumptive Republican nominee. We should be grateful that the legacy press might be just kind enough to wait until the results are called for the South Carolina Republican primary. But should that go Trump's way, it doesn't look like the Fourth Estate will have the self-control to wait until after Tuesday's Nevada GOP Caucuses, let alone the 12 contests to be held on March 1, to make their pronouncement. Whatever happened to waiting till a candidate actually obtained a majority of the delegates before declaring a presumptive nominee?

 

The Washington Post's Philip Bump went so far to declare that Trump "is now the Republican Party’s establishment-lane candidate":

Donald Trump will have led in Real Clear Politics' polling average nationally, save a day or two when he was tied with Ben Carson, for precisely seven months this Saturday -- the day he is likely to win South Carolina's Republican primary on a perhaps-unstoppable run to the nomination.

How'd he do that? Weirdly enough, by becoming the choice of the Republican center -- the group that was supposed to be trying to pick among Jeb Bush, Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker and New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie right about now.

A new poll from Quinnipiac University shows how the field has evolved since December, back when there were 14 Republicans to ask about, not six. Trump jumped from 28 percent support to 39 percent, essentially absorbing the equivalent support of those eight candidates who dropped out. (Those eight totaled 12 percent of support in December.)

[. . .]

When Christie, Carly Fiorina and all those others dropped out, the long-term beneficiary appears to have been Trump, the candidate who has locked down that less strident wing of the Republican Party to which Bush once aspired.

We saw this morphing of Trump into the Establishment coming. It is happening despite Trump still being the candidate whom the largest number of Republicans find unacceptable, Trump’s unfavorable rating being higher than any Democrat or Republican nominee ever and after months and months of the Establishment saying Trump would not and could not be the nominee because of his bellicose and hateful campaign rhetoric. This is what the GOP Establishment seems to do best these days. They say one thing and then do the opposite. It's just so like the Establishment to choose to back Trump.

 

It pretty much serves the Republican Establishment right that they may now be lumped together with Trump. The Establishment deserves it because they created the environment which a candidate such as The Donald could even become a thing. Sen.Ted Cruz explained how that came to better than anyone last July on the floor of the Senate:

There is a profound disappointment among the American people because we keep winning elections and then we keep getting leaders who don't do anything they promised ...

We've had a Republican majority in both houses of Congress now for about six months. What has that majority done? First thing we did, in December, is we came back and passed a $1 trillion ‘Cromnibus' plan filled with pork and corporate welfare. That was the very first thing we did. Then this Republican majority voted to fund ObamaCare, voted to fund President Obama's unconstitutional executive amnesty. And then leadership rammed through the confirmation of Loretta Lynch as attorney general. Madam President, which of those decisions would be one iota different if Harry Reid were still majority leader? Not a one. Not a one. This Senate operates exactly the same -- the same priorities…

After months of denouncing Trump as if he were a member of the Indian Untouchable caste, the GOP Establishment has warmed up to The Donald and, with the main stream media, seems ready to embrace Trump as Establishment. Now instead of a TEA Party insurrection, we have a mob of middle finger voters supporting Trump.

 

Just one more point. The rise of the new Trump Establishment was also allowed by the pitifully meager effort expended by the main stream media to reveal the  Liberal non-Conservative that Trump is. Rather than do their job on that score, the legacy press just lazily parrots every word spewed from Trump leaving the hard work of pointing out his flip flops evolution on issue after issue to be done by the other candidates' campaigns and the Fifth Estate.

 

Cross posted from RedState.

Trump Campaigns Like A Twitter Troll

 

Image Credit: Sam Fentress released under GFDL and CC ShareAlike

A Twitter Troll is internet slang for a person who sows discord on the Internet by starting arguments or upsetting people, by posting inflammatory, extraneous, or off-topic messages online with the deliberate intent of provoking an emotional response or of otherwise disrupting normal on-topic discussion.

Pretty much sounds like Donald Trump the presidential candidate. The Donald, behaves just like the Twitter Trolls you have to block because attempting to engage them in a civil discussion is futile. When presented with facts that prove a Twitter Troll wrong they just reply with inflammatory responses usually in the form of an insult or name calling.

This seems to be the only way Trump campaigns. Just look at his troll-like un-presidential behavior during Saturday's CBS South Carolina Republican Presidential debate. How many times did Trump interrupt other candidate calling them liar and spewing other insults? He seems to find it very difficult to respond in a civil manner to a statement he disagreed with, or something that pointed out an issue about which he has been inconsistent or, as Obama would evolved.

Trump continued his un-presidential Twitter Troll behavior in his press conference in Hanahan, SC. Trump went after fellow Republican candidate for president Sen.Ted Cruz, saying he is "a very unstable person" and "desperate":

I have never, ever met a person that lies more than Ted Cruz. I have never, ever seen anything like it.

QUESTION: Mr. Trump, your comments about George W. Bush and 9/11, Ted Cruz said today that was like Michael Moore, and says that you're more on the left.

TRUMP: Ted Cruz is desperate, look, I think Ted's a very unstable guy...I must tell you one thing about Ted Cruz that I can say, only to a minor extent, for comparison to the other politicians, I haven't been doing this long, I've been in it since June 16, but I will tell you, I have never, ever met a person that lies more than Ted Cruz. I have never ever seen anything like it.

[. . .]

QUESTION: You said today you think [Cruz] is "unstable." What do you mean?

I think he's an unstable person. I watch him, I see him. He's a good debater but he can't talk.

TRUMP: He's a very unstable person, that's just my opinion.

QUESTION: Too unstable to be president?

TRUMP: Yes.

Trump gets away with this troll-like un-presidential misconduct because the main stream media doesn't call him on it. The press just regurgitates what Trump says no matter how vile or vulgar. Consider the many times Trump threatens to sue Cruz. Why doesn't the mainstream media ask him why he always threatens, but never sues.

One has to wonder if Trump would have ever been the front runner if he had to compete for press attention like the other candidates instead of having every outrageous thing he says simply repeated by the press because the outrageousness sells.

Cross posted from RedState.

Thomas Sowell Endorses Cruz Because Of The Supreme Court

Thomas Sowell, economist, social theorist, political philosopher, author and  Senior Fellow at Stanford University's Hoover Institution, endorses Sen. Ted Cruz. Sowell's main, and perhaps sole, reason for backing Cruz is the Supreme Court vacancy resulting from the unexpected death of Justice Scalia and the advanced ages of other justices:

The vacancy created on the Supreme Court makes painfully clear the huge stakes involved when we choose a President of the United States, just one of whose many powers is the power to nominate justices of the Supreme Court.

Justice Scalia's passing would be a great loss at any time. But at this crucial juncture in the history of the nation -- with 5-to-4 Supreme Court decisions determining what kind of country America will be -- Scalia's death can be catastrophic in its consequences, depending on who is chosen to be his successor.

Given the advanced ages of other justices, the next president is likely to have enough vacancies to fill to be able to shape the future of the court that helps shape the future of America.

Already many people are complaining that the America they grew up in, and loved, is being changed into something they can barely recognize.

[. . .]

The governors among the Republican candidates can at least be judged by how their track record stands up in running a governmental organization. So can Senator Ted Cruz, who was Solicitor General in Texas. But Senator Marco Rubio has no comparable experience -- and his inexperience has shown up in his abortive attempt to join Democrats in promoting amnesty.

If the Republicans are to avoid having Donald Trump lead them -- and the country -- to disaster, they are going to have to have the majority of non-Trump supporters get behind some given candidate.

Senator Ted Cruz has been criticized in this column before, and will undoubtedly be criticized here again. But we can only make our choices among those actually available, and Senator Cruz is the one who comes to mind when depth and steadfastness come to mind.

As someone who once clerked for a Chief Justice of the Supreme Court, he will know how important choosing Justice Scalia's replacement will be. And he has the intellect to understand much more.

Sowell's endorsement comes as the good folks at the Cruz-supporting Courageous Conservatives PAC launch a powerful new ad entitled "The Courts," with a message strikingly similar to Sowell's endorsement of Cruz. Watch the ad:

Thinking about voting for Donald Trump?

Think about this.

First liberal judges banned school prayer.

Then they legalized abortion.

They forced us to educate illegal aliens.

Then they took down the Ten Commandments and in one week upheld ObamaCare, legalized gay marriage and gave the federal government power over our local zoning.

And the left isn’t finished yet!

The courts are the battleground and Justice Scalia’s death makes South Carolina’s choice this week even more important because the next President could replace as many as four Justices.

So who do you trust to make those picks?

Donald Trump with his New York values?

Or Ted Cruz, who won cases before the Supreme Court protecting gun rights, religious freedom and against the World Court.

It’s up to you this Saturday.

This is it.

This is our last chance.

Ted Cruz. For President.

Now. Before It’s Too Late.

The Cruz Campaign argued the same case with another ad Monday -- that Donald Trump cannot be trusted to make appointments to the U.S. Supreme Court because of his Liberal Democrat-like support of partial birth abortion as well as other issues including marriage, religious liberty, and the Second Amendment.

Cross posted from RedState.

New CNN Nevada Poll a GOP Race for Second and Last

The new CNN/ORC Nevada poll finds Donald Trump has a huuuuge 26 point lead with the support of 45 percent of those likely to participate in Tuesday's Republican caucuses:

• Trump - 45%
• Rubio -19%
• Cruz - 17%
• Carson - 7%
• Kasich - 5%
• Bush - 1%

With the 6.5% margin of error Cruz and Rubio are tied as are the  bottom three as well. Nearly 60 percent of likely GOP caucusgoers have definitely decided whom they support.

As in the South Carolina poll, Trump dominates the field on handling top issues:

• Economy (61% trust Trump most)
• Illegal immigration (58% Trump)
• ISIS (55% Trump)
• Foreign policy (42% Trump)

Trump holds a smaller edge over Cruz and Rubio on handling social issues -- 28% say Trump would handle those best, 21% Cruz and 20% Rubio.

Trump is also widely seen as having the best chance of winning in November:

• Trump - 565
• Rubio - 18%
• Kasich - 16%
• Carson - 4%
• Bush - 0
• No Opinion - 5%

Hillary Clinton and Bernie Sanders are statistically tied among those likely to participate in Saturday's Democrat Caucuses:

• Clinton - 48%
• Sanders - 47%

The margin of error for the Democrat caucus is plus or minus 6 percent.

The CNN/ORC Nevada poll was conducted February 10-15.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Gov. Nikki Haley Endorsement: Anyone But Trump

South Carolina Gov. Nikki Haley said Tuesday she may not endorse anyone ahead of Saturday's Republican primary, but if she does, it won't be Donald Trump.

Haley, talking to the press, said Tuesday she's still trying to make up her mind about whether she will make an endorsement. But she said Trump represents "everything a governor doesn't want in a president." Haley said Trump doesn't know what he's talking about. Gov. Haley told the reporters  that governors want a president who will work with and fight for them, not come into their state and bash them. She called Trump's comments "quite Obama-like." Speaking at Hanahan, SC Monday, Trump criticized Gov. Haley saying she's been weak on issues related to Gitmo and Syrian refugees.

The Blaze reports that Haley explained she's looking at all the candidates, slammed the Donald for not "understanding South Carolina’s issues" and  defended herself against Trump's attack:

I’m doing what a lot of people in South Carolina are doing, which is I watch the debate, been trying to go through all the different situations, I’m looking at all the different candidates and trying to figure out who that person would be, so I’m not at a point yet.

I want someone who’s going to hold Republicans accountable and I want someone who’s going to make a difference not just for our party, but for every person whom they represent in the country.

I think it’s unfortunate when a candidate comes into South Carolina and doesn’t know South Carolina’s issues.

All of you guys know exactly how hard we fought against Syrian refugees, exactly how hard we fought against Guantanamo Bay, exactly how we’ve done it directly with the president and the administration and trying to tell them that we don’t want these things.

You can watch Haley's presser in this video.

Cross posted from RedState:

Cruz responds to Trump's 'liar' charge

http://www.washingtonexaminer.com/watch-cruz-responds-to-trumps-liar-charge/article/2583314?custom_click=rss

By Daniel Chaitin (@danielchaitin7) • 2/15/16 5:44 PM

Sen. Ted Cruz says simply screaming "liar" does not validate the arguments of his Republican presidential opponents "who want to run away from their record."

"It is a curious thing — two of the candidates in the race: Donald Trump and Marco Rubio, both have the very same pattern. Whenever anyone points out their record, they simply start screaming, 'liar, liar liar,'" Cruz said to reporters in a video released Monday by his campaign.

"Name calling is not a positive thing in politics," Cruz said, adding he has avoided reciprocating such tactics.

During Saturday's debate, Trump called Cruz the "single biggest liar," after the Texas senator brought up the billionaire's past support for partial-birth abortions and taxpayer funding for Planned Parenthood. Trump also chided Cruz for cheating during the Iowa caucuses by taking votes away from Ben Carson.

Also at the debate, Rubio called Cruz a liar after Cruz said the Florida senator went on Univision to say in Spanish he would not rescind President Obama's executive action on immigration during his first day in office if elected president.

In a separate TV ad released Monday, Cruz's campaign says it's Trump who is changing his position. The Cruz ad shows Trump in TV interviews saying he wouldn't ban partial birth abortion, and saying Hillary Clinton "does a good job."

During the campaign, Trump has said Clinton is the worst secretary of state ever.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3aZuRoBtwo8

Here’s the transcript:

CRUZ: I’m Ted Cruz and I approve this message.

DONALD TRUMP: I’m very capable of changing to anything I want to change to.

ANNOUNCER: That’s for sure.

TIM RUSSERT: Would President Trump ban partial birth abortion?

TRUMP: Well look I am pro-choice in every respect.

RUSSERT: But you would not ban it?

TRUMP: No.

 

Cruz ad paints Trump as unprincipled
Sunlen Serfaty-Profile-Image

 

Teddy Schleifer

By Sunlen Serfaty and Theodore Schleifer, CNN

Updated 5:06 PM ET, Mon February 15, 2016

ANNOUNCER: And Planned Parenthood?

TRUMP: Planned Parenthood serves a good function.

ANNOUNCER: And Hillary Clinton?

TRUMP: I think she does a good job and I like her.

ANNOUNCER: South Carolina cannot trust Donald Trump.

TRUMP: I’m very capable of changing to anything I want to change to.

ANNOUNCER: Don’t give him that chance.

What a great ad from Cruz. Record matters and he’s gonna make sure South Carolinians know Trump’s record.

Read more: http://therightscoop.com/watch-ted-cruz-releases-brutal-new-ad-hitting-the-donald-right-in-his-trumpertantrum

 

Ted Cruz plans to use a recent Fox News interview with Donald Trump as the latest sign of how malleable Trump's beliefs truly are.

In a new television spot that will begin airing in South Carolina on Tuesday, Cruz continues to highlight Trump's previous comments in favor of Planned Parenthood and abortion rights. Now adding to those remarks on paid media is Trump's brag that he is "very capable of changing to anything I want to change to," a comment that Cruz's campaign believes is a sign of his disregard for conservative principles.

 

/#ixzz40KxwZlzA

 

https://www.tedcruz.org/l/cant-handle-truth/

http://www.cnn.com/2016/02/15/politics/ted-cruz-donald-trump-change-south-carolina-ad/index.html

Ted Cruz plans to use a recent Fox News interview with Donald Trump as the latest sign of how malleable Trump's beliefs truly are.

In a new television spot that will begin airing in South Carolina on Tuesday, Cruz continues to highlight Trump's previous comments in favor of Planned Parenthood and abortion rights. Now adding to those remarks on paid media is Trump's brag that he is "very capable of changing to anything I want to change to," a comment that Cruz's campaign believes is a sign of his disregard for conservative principles.

"That's for sure," the narrator says, leading the viewer through the "change" comment and his professed support for partial-birth abortion, Planned Parenthood and Hillary Clinton.

"South Carolina cannot trust Donald Trump," he says, later adding, "Don't give him that chance."

 

http://www.postandcourier.com/article/20160215/PC1603/160219540

The spot comes as Trump dramatically escalates his attacks on Cruz ahead of South Carolina's primary on Saturday.

On Monday, Trump spent almost an hour lashing into Cruz before reporters, charging that he is a liar who cannot be trusted.

Much of the advertising against Trump by both Cruz's campaign and his super PACs has tried to use Trump's previous, often dated comments to television interviewers against him.