Story highlights Cruz says "very little evidence to indicate" Planned Parenthood shooting tied to anti-abortion rhetoric

The GOP presidential candidate declines to label the attack "domestic terrorism"

(CNN) Ted Cruz is condemning the deadly shooting at a Planned Parenthood clinic, but is refusing to blame the attack on the anti-abortion rhetoric that has consumed stretches of the Republican primary campaign.

Speaking about the alleged gunman, Robert Lewis Dear, at a campaign event in Iowa on Sunday, Cruz accused the media of wanting "to blame him on the pro-life movement when at this point there's very little evidence to indicate that." Audio of the comments was posted online by The Texas Tribune.

When a reporter told Cruz that the suspect in the Colorado Springs killings is alleged to have mentioned "baby parts" after his arrest, the Texas senator responded, "Well, it's also been reported that he was registered as an independent and a woman and transgendered leftist activist, if that's what he is."

Cruz was likely citing a report from The Gateway Pundit, a right-wing blog, that uncovered a Colorado state voter registration form which lists Dear's gender as female.

The term "transgendered" is considered offensive by the LGBT community. The appropriate usage when describing an individual, as explained by National Lesbian & Gay Journalists Association, is "transgender person," "transgender man" or "transgender woman."

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