Ted Cruz was forced to reiterate his stance against same-sex marriage in a Thursday night statement after a news report of comments he made at a fundraising event on Monday in New York City cast some doubt.
Cruz, who hopes to court evangelical voters to support his presidential bid, stood by what he reportedly told a small group, hosted by “two prominent gay hoteliers,” according to The New York Times.
The Times reported his remarks seemed to signal a softening of his beliefs on same-sex marriage, a charge Cruz dismissed.
“It speaks volumes that The New York Times considers it newsworthy that a Republican who believes marriage is between a man and a woman would meet with people who hold a different view,” Cruz said in a statement.
Earlier on Thursday, the Times — a frequent rhetorical target of Cruz on the stump — published an account of an event on Monday evening in which Cruz said he would treat his young daughters the same if one of them told him she was gay. Cruz agreed with that reporting, but ridiculed the suggestion in the article that he was somehow shaping his views to suit the audience’s.
The Texas senator said he told the crowd that he opposed same-sex marriage. The Times reported that he did not mention that belief, only noting that he believes marriage is a state issue.
Cruz said the fact that he showed up in the first place to the small Manhattan gathering, which was focused primarily on foreign policy, showed that he was a “big tent Republican” rather than a “panderer.”
“We’re not always going to agree on everything, and I’m not going to change my fundamental values,” he said in the statement.
