Pastor Rafael Cruz, father of Sen. Ted Cruz (R-TX) told the audience at a conservative conference on Saturday that marriage equality is part of a government conspiracy, the Des Moines Register reported.

“Socialism requires that government becomes your God,” the elder Cruz said to the crowd at the Family Leadership Summit in Ames, Iowa. “That’s why they have to destroy the concept of God. They have to destroy all loyalties except loyalty to government. That’s what’s behind homosexual marriage.”

ADVERTISEMENT

Cruz also brought up his emigration from Cuba to the U.S., linking President Barack Obama to longtime Cuban leader Fidel Castro.

“That same man who’d been talking about hope and change now was talking about how the rich were evil, how they oppressed the poor, how they needed to redistribute the wealth,” the Dallas Morning News quoted Cruz as saying.

The elder Cruz also targeted the Affordable Care Act, commonly known as “Obamacare,” as part of his speech to warm up the audience for his son’s appearance later on Saturday.

“Obamacare is going to destroy the elderly by denying care, by even perhaps denying treatment to people who are in catastrophic circumstances,” Cruz said.

[Image via YouTube]