Fox News "Fox and Friends" - Transcript: Marco: We Need a Conservative Leader, Not Political Calculation

Statement

This morning on Fox and Friends, Marco laid out the sharpest contrast he drew with Ted Cruz -- the way the senator's record of political calculation contrasts with the way he portrays himself as a consistent conservative.

Here's Marco's key point:

"I like Ted, we're friends. But he campaigns as a consistent conservative, and basically says he's the only consistent conservative on the stage.

That is not his record."

Then, Marco went on to lay out the wrinkles in Cruz's record:

"He has flipped his position on birthright citizenship, on legalization of illegal immigrants. He wanted a 500% increase in guest workers. He wanted a doubling of the number of green cards. He did change his position on [Trade Promotion Authority] -- he wrote an article with Paul Ryan, before Paul Ryan was speaker, praising TPA.

He used to lobby members to support TPA, and then four months later all of a sudden he flips on it. And we saw him flip his vote on crop insurance on the Senate floor. I mean I was standing right there. And then last week, he [flip-flopped on] ethanol again in iowa.

So my point is, the only thing consistent is the consistent political calculation that I'm going to change my position if it helps me politically in a given moment.

And so don't run as a consistent conservative if, in fact, you have consistently calculated your positions. That's what he's done. Again, it came up because he launched into an attack. and so i responded with his record -- not with an oppo dump, with his record."

Source