Ferguson on Cruz: ‘He’s Liked by the Average Voter, the Hard-Working Man and Woman’
FERGUSON: "Well, there are people who don’t like him because he didn’t play by the establishment rules and Mitch McConnell and others have laid forth in Congress. Let’s not forget. It’s not a liability when Congress doesn’t like you. The American people hate Congress. What is their approval rating, nine percent right now?"
BURNETT: "Fair. And I think you’re overstating it."
FERGUSON: "So, to walk around saying — well, to go around though and to say that other senators who are not liked, who are the GOP establishment don’t like Ted Cruz, that’s a fund-raising point. That’s a reason to vote for Ted Cruz. And this is the reason why people in Washington don’t understand the phenomenon around him, even Donald Trump and Ben Carson. They are not the establishment pick. They are not the ones that go there and play the game for their own personal gain. Ted Cruz went to Washington as a Tea Party guy. And he said, I’m not going to go up there, I’m not going to suck up to Mitch McConnell and John Boehner and any of the other people. I’m going with an agenda and I’m going to fight for it. That’s why he’s loved in Texas. Now, that’s also the reason why he’s loved all over the country by conservatives specifically also evangelicals who are rallying behind him. And so, when I hear people say, well, he is liked by others, you’re not paying attention, he’s liked by the average voter, the hard-working man and woman in this country. He is liked by the Christians. You can laugh at it. Hold on! You can laugh at it but look at where your guys are right now. They are hated and they are not running for president. The ones that have are failing and falling on their face. So, I would say that voters are riding, you can smock all you want to and laugh as a D.C. guy, but you’re wrong."
BURNETT: "Josh?"
HOLMES: "Hold on. The funny thing, I mean, it’s far beyond the Republican establishment we’re talking about. I mean, “The New York Times” quoted his former college roommate three weeks ago saying he’d for any name in his phonebook." FERGUSON: "If “The New York Times” is quoting a former roommate, you are talking about “The New York Times.” You are only helping Ted Cruz’s story. That’s why you called a hit piece. And if it was written about your former boss, that is exactly what you would be saying on TV. How come it doesn’t work the same for Ted Cruz?"
HOLMES: "All I’m saying is there is a long and distinguished history of just everybody who’s ever worked with Ted Cruz complaining that they don’t get along with him very well. And he doesn’t have a very good reputation of working with others."
(CROSSTALK)
FERGUSON: "Well, I would say this. The guy’s won a lot of cases in front of the Supreme Court. So, if you are a lawyer, you probably are not going to like him because he is better at his job than you are. If you’re in congress and you’ve been there for 20 years, and you haven’t got to run for president or when you did you got beat badly and Ted Cruz comes along and doesn’t play the Washington establishment game and now he is if second place, you probably hate him. But the American people, they like him."
