Ted Cruz crushes CNBC moderators for aggressive 'cage match' questions

CNBC's Carl Quintanilla asked Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Texas) during Wednesday's GOP presidential debate about his opposition to the budget compromise working its way though Congress. "Let me start out by saying something," Cruz said. "The questions that have been asked so far in the debate illustrate why the American people don't trust the media." The audience cheered, and Cruz continued: "This is not a cage match." The Democratic debate was a lovefest, Cruz argued, while the CNBC debate moderators have been pitting the Republican candidates against each other with barbed questions instead of focusing on substance — then he showed his admirable memory by reciting the questions that preceded his.

After Cruz's harangue, Quintanilla noted that his question was about substance, but the audience in Boulder was clearly on Cruz's side. And Cruz is right that the news media isn't all that trusted by the American public, according to a recent Gallup poll. But look at where Congress — Cruz's day job — sits:

[Gallup]

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

Join more than 350,000 subscribers and keep yourself informed with a selection of The Week’s most interesting, enlightening and entertaining stories - plus daily puzzles.

Join more than 350,000 subscribers and keep yourself informed with a selection of The Week’s most interesting, enlightening and entertaining stories - plus daily puzzles.

Sign up

Which probably explains, at least in part, why all the senators on stage would prefer to be president, whose office is doing pretty well, respectively.