Florida governor and 2016 presidential candidate Jeb Bush raised many eyebrows recently when he claimed “I have libertarian blood running through my veins.” The comment was an appeal for liberty-minded voters to give his campaign a look.

But Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Tx.) has already appealed to many liberty-Republicans.

Recently, at a town hall event in South Carolina, Truth In Media’s Joshua Cook asked Senator Cruz why so many supporters of Ron Paul are now working for the Cruz campaign.

“Thanks for the question, it’s one of the most encouraging aspects of our campaign,” Senator Cruz replied. “If we’re going to win we’ve got to reassemble that old Reagan coalition. We’ve got to bring together conservatives, Evangelicals and libertarians. We’ve got to bring together young people, Hispanics and women and Reagan Democrats.”

“In 2012 I was the only candidate in the country who was endorsed by Ron Paul and Rick Santorum. And the reason is, I had built a record of standing and fighting for the Constitution, fighting for religious liberty, fighting for liberty. And when you stand for the Constitution, and when you stand for the Judeo-Christian values that built this country, that can bring people together behind shared principles,” answered Cruz.

“So I’m very proud to have the support of a great many of libertarians and liberty-minded folks here in South Carolina and nationally,” said Cruz.

Steven Long, a liberty activist in South Carolina who attended the Cruz campaign event, told Cook, “I support Cruz because he is a conservative leader that we can count on. He shut down the government to attempt and end Obamacare—one of the worst laws in our nations history. When Rand Paul had his filibusters, Cruz was there to support him, but when Cruz had his filibuster, Paul was nowhere to be found. Cruz speaks the truth about the establishment and he doesn’t try and cozy up to them to get ahead. You’ll never see him endorse Mitch McConnell. He has a record of arguing before the Supreme Court and as Solicitor General he headed up many cases. In the senate he has been a steadfast leader and has never compromised his values.”