Presidential hopeful Ted Cruz visits Rock Hill, talks nuclear deal, IRS

U.S. Sen. Ted Cruz of Texas stopped in Rock Hill on Friday to kick off a weekend trip to South Carolina and to criticize the Obama administration’s tentative agreement with Iran.

The tentative accord on Iran’s nuclear capabilities “is a terrible deal,” he told more than 200 people at the Holiday Inn near the Rock Hill Galleria mall. “It is not surprising but I think it is a profound threat to the national security of America and to our allies…It is a historic mistake reminiscent of Munich in 1938.”

Cruz also told the audience that if elected, he would make repealing the Affordable Care Act and Common Core initiatives his top priorities.

The first-term senator also took aim at Democrats nationwide, saying they have “extreme and radical” views about marriage equality that infringe on religious freedoms.

The deal with Iran was announced Thursday by the Obama administration, which called it a framework for an agreement. President Obama said the deal would prevent Iran from obtaining a nuclear weapon.

But Cruz said he would try to block the deal in the Senate. Among his objections, he said, is that the plan would limit Iran’s nuclear production capability for 10 years. “So 10 years from now, under the terms of this deal, America is okey-dokey fine with Iran having a nuclear weapon.”

While those inside the event clapped and cheered in support of the senator, others outside criticized his positions on immigration and social issues.

The S.C. Democratic Party held a news conference at the hotel an hour before Cruz arrived. Party director Jason Perkey said Cruz and other conservative Republicans who may run for president don’t share the views of most Americans.

“It’s clear (Cruz) is the embodiment of what’s wrong with the Republican Party,” Perkey said.

Republicans like Cruz, Perkey claimed, don’t represent the middle class. Perkey cited Cruz’s opposition in Congress to the Paycheck Fairness Act that aims to guarantee equal pay for women and his lead role in a fight against Obamacare last fall that led to a temporary government shutdown.

Perkey accused Cruz of having a “narrow” worldview and a short-sighted view of politics.

But Cruz’s brand of politics – a mix of evangelical Christian values with passionate views on gun rights, tax reform and shrinking the federal government – appeared to resonate with his crowd on Friday.

York County residents Bob and Gaye Haid said they agree with Cruz’s views on all national political issues. The couple is “ultra-conservative,” Gaye Haid said, adding that, like other voters in the South, “we like to cling to our guns and our religion.”

During a news conference after his event, Cruz said he feels right at home in South Carolina. His home state of Texas shares similar cultural and political beliefs as many South Carolinians, he said.

He summed up his 2016 presidential bid as representing a “national referendum on repealing Obamacare and abolishing the IRS.”

Cruz said during his speech that he wants the U.S. to adopt a “flat tax” rate for all income-earners and to shut down the Internal Revenue Service. He joked that the federal government could re-assign IRS employees to work as border agents along the U.S.-Mexico border.

In Congress, Cruz has been one of the most outspoken opponents to a pathway to citizenship for immigrants who entered the U.S. illegally. Some critics have attacked his stance, saying he should be more sympathetic to undocumented people living in the U.S., considering that his father fled to the country from Cuba at age 18.

Hector Vaca and Alma Hernandez with Action N.C., a Charlotte-based organization that says it fights for equality, attended Cruz’s Rock Hill campaign stop with signs criticizing the senator’s position on immigration policy reform. They say Cruz doesn’t support fair policies for immigrant families and voters shouldn’t assume that because he’s Latino that he has the Latino community’s best interest in mind.

Some political analysts have said Cruz’s record of fighting immigration reform could hurt his chances with some voters in 2016.

The first major presidential candidate to officially announce he’s running, Cruz billed himself on Friday as the most conservative GOP candidate in the pool. He told the crowd that he’s concerned about the nation’s direction and that a Republican in the White House is the only way to “turn things around.”

This story was originally published April 3, 2015 at 1:51 PM with the headline "Presidential hopeful Ted Cruz visits Rock Hill, talks nuclear deal, IRS."