Texas Sen. Ted Cruz has again backed fellow 2016 Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump for speaking out on illegal immigration and refused to take part in "Republican-on-Republican violence."
"I like Donald Trump," he told Chuck Todd in an interview to be aired Sunday on "Meet the Press" on NBC. "He’s bold, he’s brash."
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"I get that it's the favorite sport of the Washington media to encourage some Republicans to attack other Republicans," Cruz added. "I ain't gonna do it."
Cruz, who announced his candidacy in March, said earlier this week that Trump need not apologize for his controversial remarks about illegal immigrants in his campaign announcement speech last month.
He also slammed NBCUniversal for canceling its contract with Trump's Miss Universe Organization.
In his interview with Todd, Cruz steadily refused to attack Trump and blamed "the Washington cartel" for avoiding the immigration issue and encouraging Republicans to beat up on one another.
"I salute Donald Trump for focusing on the need to address illegal immigration," Cruz said. "The Washington cartel doesn’t want to address that.
"The Washington cartel doesn't believe that we should secure the borders. The Washington cartel supports amnesty, and I salute Donald Trump for focusing on it.
"He has a colorful way of speaking," Cruz added. "It's not the way I speak, but I'm not going to engage in the media's game of throwing rocks and attacking other Republicans.
"I'm just not going to do it."
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