Sen. Ted Cruz dismisses Obama comparison, calls him a 'backbencher' in the Senate

Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Texas) just announced he's running for president in 2016, but he isn't taking kindly to people comparing him to the current president.

Cruz announced his candidacy after one term in the Senate, just as Obama did in 2008. But there, Cruz says, is where the similarities end. Obama was "a backbencher" in the Senate who didn't "engage in a whole lot of issues of consequence," Cruz said on Glenn Beck's radio show.

"Unlike Barack Obama," Cruz said, "I wasn't a community organizer. I spent five and a half years as solicitor general of Texas, representing Texas in front of the Supreme Court, and we won some of the biggest victories in the country defending conservative principles."

Subscribe to The Week

Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.

SUBSCRIBE & SAVE

Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters

From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.

From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.

Sign up

Cruz won five cases in front of the Supreme Court as solicitor general. The Tea Party favorite added that he isn't worried about his low polling numbers right now, noting that he gained invaluable experience overcoming great odds to win his state's Senate primary in 2011.