INDEPENDENCE, Iowa— Ted Cruz’s campaign released its second attack ad against front-runner Donald Trump on Monday — just one week out from the Iowa caucus and with polls indicating a potential slip in support for the Texas senator.
“Donald Trump: New York values, not ours,” a narrator’s voice sternly states as haunting music with a rumbling bass plays in the background.
The ad reprises several soundbites from a Meet the Press interview with Trump in 1999, when then-moderator Tim Russert pressed the real estate mogul on his views over abortion and gay marriage. In the interview, Trump told Russert his stances on the controversial social views were shaped by his residency in New York.
“I mean, hey, I lived in New York City and Manhattan all my life,” Trump said at the time. “So my views are a little bit different than if I lived in Iowa.”
The narrator then agrees with Trump’s assessment, saying, “They are different, like on abortion.”
The video then cuts back to Trump’s interview, where the deliberative businessman made his pro-choice stance clear.
“Look, I am pro-choice in every respect,” Trump said.
The ad also plays a clip from an October speech by Trump in Fort Dodge, Iowa, when the candidate scoffingly asked the crowd at his rally, “How stupid are the people of Iowa?” Trump was in the middle of a diatribe over Ben Carson’s rise in Iowa polling at the time. It was two weeks ago that Cruz first derided Trump’s “New York values.” And since, he has used the line to draw contrasts with Trump’s positions on gay marriage, abortion, gun regulations, the bank bailout and government stimulus package. This is the second attack ad to air on television by the Cruz campaign. It began airing an ad over the weekend targeting Trump as a “fat cat” who backs eminent domain. This article originally appeared on NBCNews.com.
Vaughn Hillyard is a senior White House reporter for MS NOW. Recommended
