Ted Cruz is in Illinois and while in Rockport, he gave a speech that was devastating to Trump. Rather than go after Trump on lofty policy differences he did something that downstate Illinois voters will understand. He effectively tied Donald Trump firmly to the tail of the corrupt Illinois Democrat establishment, in particular, Rod Blagojevich, Rahm Emmanuel, and the Cook County Democrat Party.



TRANSCRIPT

This is now effectively a two person race, between me and Donald Trump. Only two candidates have any plausible path to winning the Republican nomination: me and Donald Trump. And I would note that the people of Illinois have been suffering under mismanaged Democratic policies for a long, long time. The people of Illinois have paid a real price for the failures of the far left Democrats.

And it is rather stiking that my leading competitor for the Republican nomination, Donald Trump, has been one of the key funders of those liberal Democrats imposing failed policies on the people of Illinois. Donald Trump gave $7,000 to Rod Blagojevich, that’s a fairly remarkable legacy for a Republican candidate for president. He gave $12,500 to the Democratic Party of Cook County. I know the people across Illinois know exactly what it means, the legacy is of Donald Trump thinks that the Democratic Party of Cook County is an institution he wants to support. Presumably because he supports their corruption and their policies. But actually Donald’s contributions to Blago and Cook County Democrats pales compared to his contributions to Rahm Emmanuel. He gave $50,000 to Rahm Emmanuel. $50,000. And I think the people of Illinois are fed up with the failed policies of liberal Democrats, including Hillary Clinton, who Donald has written check after check after check to, including two checks he wrote to Hillary Clinton’s presidential campaign. In 2008.

That’s one of the reasons Republicans are uniting behind our campaign because here in Illinois and all across the country people don’t want to nominate a candidate who has been enmeshed in the corruption of Washington, for forty years has been funding liberal Democrats, like Rod Blagojevich, like the Cook County Democratic Party, like Rahm Emmanuel, like Hillary Clinton. Instead, we want to nominate and elect a president who will stand with the hard working taxpayers against the corruption of Washington. That’s why we’re seeing so much tremendous enthusiasm and excitement behind our campaign.