Presidential candidates Ted Cruz and Donald Trump are fighting over who has the best Republican values to represent the GOP in the upcoming election for the White House.

The Texas senator released a video of the reality star/businessman from a 1999 NBC Meet the Press interview. In it, Trump expresses support for bisexual, gay, and lesbian troops openly serving and offers no opinion on marriage equality.

‘I lived in New York City, Manhattan, all my life,’ Trump says. ‘My views are a little bit different than if I lived in Iowa, but it [open service] is not something that disturbs me.’

According to the Washington Post, the Cruz campaign released the clip as an extension of the candidate’s theory that Trump is just an extension of liberal, big city, thinking.

‘…Donald comes from New York and he embodies New York values,’ the senator said in a radio interview last week, according to the Washington Post.

During a Fox News interview, Cruz was asked to explain his comment.

‘They’re not Iowa values and they’re not New Hampshire values,’ Cruz offered.

Iowa and New Hampshire are the first two states in the upcoming primary. The Hawkeye State holds its caucus on 1 February. Approximately a week later, the Granite State will have a primary.

According to a Quinnipiac University poll the two candidates are virtually tied in Iowa, with Trump at 31% and Cruz 29%. In a Marist poll, Trump is ahead of the pack in New Hampshire at 30%. Florida Senator Marco Rubio is a distant second at 14%. Cruz is at 10%.

While Cruz and Trump fight over who best represents the Republican base, here is where they stand on LGBTI equality. Cruz insists morale in the US military has dipped because of open service. He frequently speaks out against same-sex marriage and rights for the LGBTI community. In 2012, the senator argued being gay is a choice.

Trump expressed support for the First Amendment Defense Act (FADA), a bill that blocks the government from preventing discrimination by businesses that believe ‘marriage is or should be recognized as the union of one man and one woman’ and ‘sexual relations are properly reserved to such a marriage.’

However, Log Cabin Republican Executive Director Gregory T Angelo insists the businessman is the most pro-gay in the field of GOP presidential contenders.

Below is the 1999 clip of Trump: