Texas Sen. Ted Cruz and Florida Sen. Marco Rubio sparred at Thursday's GOP presidential debate over accusations that both have flip-flopped over immigration, both making an effort to persuade voters they've not really changed their positions over time.
It's an argument carried over from previous debates, but moderator Megyn Kelly played videos of each senator running for office on an anti-amnesty stand, then later backing legislation that supported it.
Rubio insisted his Gang of Eight bill support was not a flip-flop, but that it provided a way to solve the immigration problem. Cruz has said his own amendment to a bill was actually a "poison pill" designed to kill it.
"In the committee you said, 'I want to bring people out of the shadows,'" Rubio told Cruz. "Now you want to trump Trump on immigration."
"You know, I like Marco. He's very charming. He's very smooth," Cruz said. "But the facts are simple. When he ran for election in the state of Florida, he told the people of Florida if you elect me, I will lead the fight against amnesty. When I ran in Texas, I told the people of Texas if you elect me, I will lead the fight against amnesty. We both made the identical promises. But when we came to Washington, we made a different choice."
The immigration issue has been a sore point for both Rubio and Cruz. The Texas senator has come under fire for waffling on the issue over the years. Cruz has attacked Rubio for "betraying our trust" for his role in the Gang of Eight, which sponsored legislation that included a path to citizenship for illegals.
Rubio, whose immigration role has been a selling point among moderates, tussled with moderator Kelly, who challenged him on his opposition to citizenship for undocumented immigrants during his 2010 Senate campaign, but later sponsoring the Gang of Eight legislation.
Rubio stumbled at her question, suggesting he only opposed "blanket amnesty."
Fellow Floridian and former Gov. Jeb Bush pounced on Rubio for the flop, saying it was based on political expediency. (Bush supports a legal status for undocumented immigrants)
"You shouldn't have cut and run," Bush told Rubio, though the two have had similar positions on immigration over the years. "Now it's harder and harder to actually solve this problem."
"You are not going to be able to ram down the throat of the American people your approach," Rubio responded.
New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie had enough, interjecting: "I want to ask the people in the audience – I'm standing here, I watched the video of Sen. Cruz, I watched the video of Sen. Rubio. I heard what they said. And this is why you need to send someone from outside of Washington to Washington. I feel like I need a Washington-English dictionary converter."
© 2025 Newsmax. All rights reserved.