Iowa representative Steve King will back Ted Cruz in the 2016 caucuses, handing Cruz an influential conservative endorsement in the crucial early-voting state.
King, a firebrand who holds sway in social-conservative circles and in his western Iowa district, made the announcement Monday morning in Des Moines.
“I believe Ted Cruz is the answer to my prayers: the candidate that God will use to restore the soul of America,” he said at his press conference.
The optics and organization of the press conference, announced late Sunday afternoon, were odd for King and Cruz, two politicians who have never shied away from the spotlight. It was a small event, conducted in a hotel ballroom. Cruz was not present for the endorsement, having previously scheduled a Monday morning event in South Carolina. His campaign scooped the congressman on the endorsement, blasting it out on social media as King’s remarks were still winding up to the endorsement.
King’s support for Cruz could change the face of the caucuses, potentially helping Christian conservatives to coalesce behind a single candidate, something that voting bloc has struggled to do in the past. “Our destruction in the past has been division — we divide ourselves among a lot of candidates,” Bob Vander Plaats, who runs The Family Leader, told National Review last month.
Iowa Republicans have long postulated that Cruz could be the rare candidate who might be able to unite the social-conservative flank, securing himself a top spot in the caucuses.Read the rest of the story HERE and listen to King's endorsement below:
Short Version:
LONG VERSION (Press Conference):
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