Ted Cruz reportedly said nice things about gay people at private chat with gay businessmen

Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Texas) skipped Thursday's confirmation vote for Attorney General Loretta Lynch because he had to fly back to Texas for a fundraiser, according to a spokeswoman for his presidential campaign. But his dinner reception on Monday night, at a penthouse on Manhattan's Central Park South owned by hoteliers Mati Weiderpass and Ian Reisner, was ostensibly about foreign policy.

Weiderpass and Reisner, both gay, are business partners and onetime romantic partners — and they, like Cruz, are also vocal supporters of Israel. "Ted Cruz was on point on every issue that has to do with national security," Reisner told The New York Times, after Weiderpass posted photos from the gathering on Facebook late Wednesday. Cruz didn't mention his opposition to same-sex marriage, Reisner added, but he "said, 'If one of my daughters was gay, I would love them just as much.'" He also mentioned a gay friend, libertarian investor Peter Thiel.

The Times asked Reisner about hosting a staunch opponent of gay marriage, when he himself is a staunch supporter, and the businessman said he didn't agree about Cruz on social issues and that the senator's views weren't that important. Same-sex marriage "is done," Reisner said. "It's just going to happen."

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