Since the inception of his presidential campaign—in fact, even before he officially became a candidate—U.S. Sen. Ted Cruz has openly discussed what the 2016 Election could mean for the Supreme Court and how the fate of the nation could stand in the balance as a result.
Regular observers called it his “one justice away” argument, that the nation stood one justice away from Americans losing key God-given rights to an over-reaching federal government. And now, following the death of Supreme Court Associate Justice Antonin Scalia, it’s much closer to reality than hyperbolic campaign rhetoric.
The Texas senator’s presidential campaign reinforced that fact Monday, releasing a new 30-second ad titled “Supreme Trust.” The ad makes the case for their candidate to be the president who selects Scalia’s successor, not Republican front-runner Donald Trump.
The ad begins with Cruz saying he authorizes the content of the advertisement. Then, a narrator says, “Life, marriage, religious liberty, the Second Amendment. We’re just one Supreme Court Justice away from losing them all.”
It then breaks to archive footage from 1999 of Donald Trump discussing politics with then-NBC Meet the Press host Tim Russert. In the clip, Trump is asked about his positions at the time on abortion, including partial-birth abortion, positions which the businessman has since disavowed.
The ad ends with the narrator saying, “We cannot trust Donald Trump with these serious decisions.”
