WASHINGTON | Republican presidential candidate Ted Cruz on Wednesday predicted the murder of “countless” Americans and Israelis should the proposed nuclear agreement with Iran go through, a graphic warning expected to be echoed by GOP front-runner Donald Trump at a Capitol Hill rally.
Those Democrats who support the deal, Cruz said, “should pray and think very carefully about how they will answer the questions that come from the mother or father or son or daughter of the countless Americans and Europeans and Israelis that will be murdered by Hamas, by Hezbollah, by the Houthis, with the billions of dollars this administration is sending them.”
“If you are directly responsible for sending billions of dollars to jihadists who use those billions to murder Americans, you can’t wash your hands of that blood,” the first-term Texas senator told reporters in the Capitol shortly before the rally began.
At Cruz’s invitation, Trump will also appear at the rally organized by tea party leaders and pro-Israel groups protesting the international agreement designed to prevent Iran from acquiring a nuclear weapon. Republicans and Israel say Iran can’t be trusted because its leaders want to annihilate the Jewish state.
The event highlights the unique relationship between Trump and Cruz, a tea party hero who helped shut the federal government in 2013 and ultimately needs the same frustrated voters who have pushed Trump to a surprising lead in early polls. As his Republican competitors turn against Trump, Cruz has offered only praise. The strategy could pay dividends for Cruz in the coming months.
“Any time Donald shows up at an event, he brings with him hundreds of television cameras and suddenly the mainstream media will cover the rally, and will focus on the substance, it is my hope, of this catastrophic deal,” Cruz told reporters.
Wednesday’s event brings protesters across the country together with leading Republicans under a blazing hot sun outside the Capitol. Attendees carried a few Israeli flags, but more American flags. A few carried posters that said, “Jewish lives matter.”
Featured speakers are expected to include Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin; former Virginia Gov. Jim Gilmore, a GOP presidential candidate; conservative broadcast personality Glenn Beck; and several Republican members of Congress. Organizers are expecting a rowdy atmosphere outside the Capitol as Congress debates the Iran deal inside.
The day gives Trump an opportunity to address foreign policy less than a week after he struggled to answer basic questions about key players in the Middle East during a radio interview. It’s unlikely, however, that the former reality television star will have to address policy details at the protest.
In an editorial published Monday on the USA Today website, Trump offered his trademark bombast, calling the deal “amateur hour” and said it demonstrates “the total incompetence of our president and politicians.”
The protest won’t change the ultimate approval of the international agreement, which has been clear for days: Even if a disapproval resolution should pass the House and Senate this week, President Barack Obama would veto it, and Democrats have the votes in hand to sustain his veto.
Former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush’s campaign released an Instagram video clip on the eve of the rally using Trump’s words against him. Asked in a past CNN interview who he’d like to represent the U.S. in a deal with Iran, Trump responds, “I think Hillary would do a good job.”
The agreement struck by Iran, the U.S., China, Russia, France, Britain and Germany in July would provide Iran hundreds of billions of dollars in relief from international sanctions in exchange for a decade of constraints on the country’s nuclear program. The deal aims to keep Iran at least a year away from being able to produce sufficient nuclear material for a weapon.