Sen. Ted Cruz On ISIS: ‘We Ought To Bomb Them Back To The Stone Age’

It’s a line that the junior senator from Texas has used on multiple occasions that draws laughter and applause from the crowd. In his speech open, Sen. Ted Cruz says that he regrets to inform those in attendance that they will all be audited by the IRS this year. The insinuation is that they have openly declared their partisan leanings by attending his speech.

And that wasn’t the only joke the conservative firebrand and likely 2016 Republican president candidate prepared for his speech to be delivered at an event hosted by Americans For Prosperity. Cruz said that there is a diet known in D.C. as the “Obama diet,” which consists of letting Russian President Vladimir Putin eat your lunch everyday.

“Sixty-six days from now, just over 1500 hours we’re going to retake the United States Senate and we’re going to retire Harry Reid,” he said to a crowd that responded with a thunderous applause. Cruz said four key issues are going to be front and center between now and Election Day, the first of which, “no amnesty.”

Comprehensive immigration reform is all but dead in the Senate, let alone the Republican-controlled House of Representatives. Since the border crisis first came to light in June, American public opinion has turned sharply against what some claim was never truly “a pathway to citizenship” as it was being sold to voters. PPD recently analyzed a slew of recent polls regarding immigration and found that, not only do a majority of Americans oppose allowing the illegal immigrants who recently flooded the border to stay, but also that they want them sent back as quickly as possible.

“In fact, more Americans think immigration should be decreased than increased, and by a nearly two-to-one margin, 41 percent vs. 22 percent,” Gallup’s Lydia Saad said regarding a survey included in the analysis.

But for Sen. Cruz and other Republicans, it would be tantamount to treason to support another one of the president’s policies that they, and many others, view to be a manufactured crisis based on political calculations. The president and the media narrative claim the illegal immigrants were “generally fleeing violence and poverty,” but an internal government report conducted jointly by law enforcement and intel agencies found that a general misunderstanding of U.S. immigration policy was the cause. The report interviewed hundreds of illegals who told them they were led to believe President Obama would grant them “permisos,” or free passes.

“Of the 230 migrants interviewed, 219 cited the primary reason for migrating to the United States was the perception of U.S. immigration laws granting free passes or permisos to UAC (unaccompanied children) and adult females OTMs (other than Mexicans) traveling with minors,” the report said.

“If you support amnesty vote Democrat,” Cruz said. “If you oppose amnesty throw Harry Reid out.”

Cruz also extended a public invitation to President Obama to accompany him to the Texas border, a serious invitation that ended with a joke about the president not having to worry whether or not he would miss out on any golf. “I figure the only way there is a chance in Heaven for him to come is if he would be able to go to a golf course,” he later added.

ObamaCare and restoring America’s leadership in the world also made the four-item list in Cruz’s speech. On ObamaCare, Cruz said “there’s a very simple principle. If you like your senator, you can keep your senator,” referencing the president’s broken promise that earned him a spot on PolitiFacts “Lie of the Year.”

Surprisingly, much of the Texas senator’s speech focused on the latter, restoring America’s leadership in the world.

“Well ISIS says they want to go back and reject modernity, well I think we should help them,” Cruz said. “We ought to bomb them back to the stone age.”

Protecting and preserving Americans’ constitutional rights was the fourth and final issue Cruz said will be front and center during the 2014 midterm elections. He said that if Americans want to keep their right to bear arms, “then vote Harry Reid out.”

There was obviously room for one more joke before closing out his speech, as he told everyone that he wanted them to vote ten times. “I’m not suggesting voter fraud,” Cruz said. “We’re aren’t Democrats. I’m saying after you vote, go find nine others who otherwise wouldn’t have voted and get them to the polls.”

Cruz thanked the crowd in closing. He said he is “extremely optimistic” about 2014 and 2016, and told the audience that he was proud to stand side-by-side with them in the effort to restore constitutional government.