Ted Cruz: GOP isn't 'condom police'

The two senators - who poll in the No. 3 and No. 4 positions in most national GOP primary surveys - have repeatedly taken swipes at each other in recent weeks, and this week has been no exception.

In a pro-Cruz talk radio ad, Rep. Jim Bridenstine, goes after Rubio over illegal immigration, hitting him for backing amnesty and standing with Obama and other liberals on comprehensive immigration reform.

Laying out the penalty of up to 10 years in prison for the federal crime of selling body parts of unborn children, Cruz claimed, "On these videos you have Planned Parenthood doing exactly that". What once was a minor incident to be ignored (in Rubio's case) or treated with "thoughts and prayers" and compliments to police but nothing more (in Cruz and Trump's cases) was now an act of war.

He said the charge that conservatives are anti-contraceptives is a "made-up, nonsense example". "There are Republicans, including Senator Cruz, that have voted to weaken those programs".

This is correct and it's high time somebody came out and said it. The contraceptive issue is one which is entirely made up when it come to accessibility, but the Democrats love to conflate two entirely different questions in their lines of attack.

"I am proud to be unambiguously pro-life to support protecting every human life, from the moment of conception to the moment of natural death", he said a day later in Iowa.

"The Republican establishment does increasingly see Rubio as perhaps their best opportunity to win", Geoffrey Skelley, political analyst for the University of Virginia Center for Politics, told TheBlaze.

"Yesterday's horrific murder, in the wake of Paris, underscores we're at a time of war whether or not the current administration realizes it", Cruz said, criticizing Obama's ISIS strategy. Chuck Schumer (D-New York) on the 2013 immigration bill, legislation from which Rubio has since backed away.

Christie was then asked to explain that response and how a governor is involved in national security.

More recently, in August, Rubio reiterated his intention not to ban contraceptives, while opting to settle the dissonance between his faith and politics in a dubious "personally opposed, but..." sort of logic.

Fox News/screenshotSen. Marco Rubio (R-Florida) discusses presidential rival Sen. Carson and Texas Senator Ted Cruz are each at 16 percent.

Bob Maginnis, a delegate from Edina, voted for Rubio in the straw poll, though he's still deciding who to ultimately pick for president.

"I stand strongly on behalf of the ability of this government to gather intelligence on our adversaries and our enemies, especially terrorists, but also other nation states".

"The pre-eminent job of the commander-in-chief is to keep this country safe", he says in an interview with The Associated Press. And there are Republicans - including Sen. That's just part of the record. "Condom police. I'm gonna make up a completely made up threat and try to scare a bunch of folks into thinking someone's going to steal their birth control, '" Cruz said.

On Thursday morning, the Rubio campaign promoted a Wall Street Journal editorial written in light of the Bloomberg interview, asserting that Cruz is emulating President Obama on Middle East policy by "leading from behind".