Rep. Pete King said Wednesday he would not take back his "cyanide" comment from earlier this week, and reiterated the fact that he does not support Ted Cruz for president.
King appeared on
Newsmax TV's "The Hard Line" and told host Ed Berliner
his remarks on Tuesday – "I hate Ted Cruz. I think I'll take cyanide if he ever got the nomination" — were partly in jest.
"I did it with a smile to some extent," the New York Republican said. "And also what happened before with Joe Scarborough introducing me saying I had just been named the chairman of the Cruz for President Committee. These people watching this may think this is real. I just figured I would say something loudly."
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King went on to say that the United States, despite the claims of some presidential candidates, is still a superpower and is still a place where people want to live — hence the issues that surround the border.
"The fact that we have these problems is because we are doing well," King said. "I agree we should be doing better. Everything is going in the wrong direction but we add to that when we go out of our way to see how bad things are. I was just taking a shot at Ted Cruz.
"I won't take it back because once you do that, then that'll be the headline. Like I was giving in to Ted Cruz or I was endorsing Ted Cruz. I'll just leave it out there for what it is. Hopefully no cyanide's going to come in the mail or anything."
King got on Cruz's case in January after the Texas senator criticized Donald Trump for having "New York Values."
King responded by
telling Cruz to "go back under a rock."
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