At a press availability Monday in Iowa, Sen. Ted Cruz explained what differentiated him from other Republican candidates and what makes him the "consistent conservative" that can be trusted.



"Our approach has been to build a grassroots army, to reassemble the old Reagan coalition, to bring together conservatives and evangelicals and libertarians, African-Americans and women and Jewish voters and Reagan Democrats. We're seeing this happen more and more each day. If conservatives continue to unite, we will win," Cruz said to describe his coalition.



"I think Donald is bold, I think he's brash, I think he's energized a lot of people to focus on this election and that's a wonderful thing, but policy distinctions are what we should be talking about and it's what the voters deserve."



Cruz made a passionate plea for voters not to listen to what Donald Trump and other Republican candidates have said, even what he has said himself, but to instead to look at the records. Cruz said he is the most consistent conservative, "someone who is the same yesterday, today and tomorrow."



"In this presidential election, the people of Iowa have a chance to make an assessment. Who can you trust? My advice is don't listen to what anybody says, don't listen to what I say, don't listen to what Donald Trump says or anyone else. Instead look at our records. If you want someone that will stand up against Obamacare, ask who has stood up against Obamacare. If you want someone to stand up against amnesty, don't ask who is for amnesty, ask who gave the fight for the amnesty bill. If you want someone to fight life and marriage and religious liberty, ask who has a record of fighting life and marriage and religious liberty," Cruz said.



"There's a reason we're seeing people in Iowa come together, and that's because people are tired of conservative rhetoric when they announce their campaign for president, and they're looking for a consistent conservative, someone who is the same yesterday, today and tomorrow. With me you know what you're going to get, and I think that's why conservatives are coming together behind our campaign," Cruz finished.



Here is transcript of Cruz's presser in Manchester, Iowa (not to be confused with Manchester, New Hampshire) earlier today:





CRUZ: One week from today the Iowa caucuses will decide. There will be millions of dollars of attack ads, a whole lot of noise, a whole lot of smoke and fireworks, but at the end of the day, it's going to come down to the good men and women in this state making the decision, making the judgment who is the principal conservative they trust?



It is a wonderful thing that our democratic process doesn't begin in a big state, isn't decided by dueling TV ads. It begins in VFW halls and pizza ranches and people's living rooms. It begins with the men and women of Iowa looking into the eyes and asking us the hard questions. That is one of the wonderful aspects of our democratic system. And from the beginning, our approach has been to build a grassroots army, to reassemble the old Reagan coalition, to bring together conservatives and evangelicals and libertarians, African-Americans and women and Jewish voters and Reagan Democrats. We're seeing this happen more and more each day. If conservatives continue to unite, we will win...



I will not engage in personal attacks. Donald [Trump] has changed how he has approached me in that he is now insulting me every day. He can do that. That is his prerogative. I do not intend to respond in kind, and indeed that's exactly the way I've responded to every other candidate in the field. When others engage in attacks and insults, I will not respond in kind, because I think the people of Iowa, the people of New Hampshire, the people of this country deserve better.



If the issues are of substance and division, that is and should be the meat of politics, the bread and butter of politics. There is a season to those discussions. We are in the season where we're discussing the differences in policy. I'm happy to have a conversation about how Donald's and my records differ when it comes to defending life. I have spent decades fighting to defend the right for life. Donald's views on abortion, he has been a strong supporter of abortion and partial to abortion. Right now as a candidate for president, Donald supports tax funding for Planned Parenthood. I disagree with him. I think we need to not spend one penny of tax money on Planned Parenthood.



On issue after issue after issue, Donald and I have different policy issues. Right now on health care, Donald supports Bernie Sanders style social idea of medicine. He believes we need to expand it to put our governor in charge of our health care and in charge of our doctors. I think that's wrong. I think it's a mistake. If I'm voted president, we're going to repeal every word of Obamacare.



I think Donald is bold, I think he's brash, I think he's energized a lot of people to focus on this election and that's a wonderful thing, but policy distinctions are what we should be talking about and it's what the voters deserve...



In this presidential election, the people of Iowa have a chance to make an assessment. Who can you trust? My advice is don't listen to what anybody says, don't listen to what I say, don't listen to what Donald Trump says or anyone else. Instead look at our records. If you want someone that will stand up against Obamacare, ask who has stood up against Obamacare. If you want someone to stand up against amnesty, don't ask who is for amnesty, ask who gave the fight for the amnesty bill. If you want someone to fight life and marriage and religious liberty, ask who has a record of fighting life and marriage and religious liberty.



There's a reason we're seeing people in Iowa come together, and that's because people are tired of conservative rhetoric when they announce their campaign for president, and they're looking for a consistent conservative, someone who is the same yesterday, today and tomorrow. With me you know what you're going to get, and I think that's why conservatives are coming together behind our campaign.