FOX "Hannity"- Transcript: Debate Recap

Interview

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HANNITY: That was Senator Ted Cruz with what I think was the line of tonight's GOP debate. He joins us now with reaction from Boulder, Colorado. Senator, I would argue, you changed the entire trajectory of that debate which, if I was a judge, I would say the candidates combined beat the moderators who were taking the Democratic Party line. That went over extremely well. Explain.

CRUZ: Well, Sean, look, we've seen now over and over again where the media, they are the Democrats' cheerleaders. And in these debates the media tries -- every question is an insult, every question is an attack, every question is asking one Republican to attack another Republican. You know, they don't do that to the Democrats. The Democrats, they give them each a chance to talk about what they believe in.

And I've got to say, Sean, one of the most ridiculous things, why is it where we keep having debates where the moderators, no one in the right mind thinks any of the moderators actually will vote in a Republican primary. In my view, Republican primary debates ought to be moderated by people who would vote at a primary. How about a debate moderated by Sean Hannity and Mark Levine and Rush Limbaugh? Now, that would be a debate. But instead --

HANNITY: I'm in. And I think I can speak for the other two, they're in as well.

And I do agree with you, because these questions are downright hostile. And I believe this was a horrible night for the news media. And I will say in many cases, in many instances tonight a disgrace to the, quote, "profession of journalism." This is a serious issue.

CRUZ: And the reason is the moderators and the networks don't want the American people to vote for any of the 10 men and women on that stage. They want to beat up whoever the Republican nominee is, and then they want people either to stay home or vote for Hillary.

And the purpose of these debates, listen, Republican primary voters are making a choice. We ought to have questions that focus on our vision for America. For example, today I rolled out my tax plan, a simple flat tax. The first $36,000 of income for a family of four, there's zero tax, zero income tax, zero payroll tax, and then a simple 10 percent tax above that. That's the sort of thing we ought to be talking about -- well, how would that tax plan compare to other candidates' plans? Everyone else's plans have much higher rates than a simple 10 percent plan. And the critical thing I think --

HANNITY: I didn't mean to interrupt you, senator, I apologize. You did get very substantive tonight because you had an opportunity to lay out your economic plan. More important, you were tackling the third rail of politics, which was Social Security and raising the retirement age. There was a lot of substance going on in spite of the hostility of the questions.

I want you, in light of today's bad economic deal, budget deal that was made, explain how things would be different under your economic plan, because I think that's the type of substance that people want to hear about.

CRUZ: I think you're exactly right. For one thing the cronyism and the sellout that we're seeing in Congress wouldn't be happening. This budget deal is a disaster. It is Republican leadership joining with the Democrats. Every single Democrat in the House voted for $80 billion more in spending and debt and deficit. It was just a handful of Republicans in leadership. They're going to try to do the same thing in the Senate.

What we need, Sean, is a strong president who stands up and says this ends now. If you send me a spending bill filled with corporate welfare and cronyism, if you keep growing the debt, I will veto it. And it's one of the reasons the distinction that I think is prepares most important that came out tonight is almost everyone on the stage talks about standing up to Washington, but there's a marked difference if you ask who actually has a record of doing that. Who has stood up not just to Democrats but to leaders in their own party? And in that regard I think that's why we're seeing conservatives uniting behind our campaign because I have a proven record as a consistent conservative of standing up to Washington and fighting for the constitution.

HANNITY: You know, you keep talking about this divide that does exist, and that is you explain, you talk about the Washington cartel. For example, John Boehner is out. Paul Ryan will step in as speaker tomorrow. Under John Boehner our debt went up $4.1 trillion. You tried to use the power of the purse. I assume it's probably a fine line. You can't use it all of the time. But on issues like Obamacare, Planned Parenthood, illegal immigration, are they three examples where maybe the Republican Party ought to be in a room strategizing and using that enumerated constitutional power? Where do they use it? When would you use it or advise them to use it?

CRUZ: Right, right. Sean, of course, you're right, that we have Republican majorities in both houses. We ought to use the constitutional power to given to Congress.

Here's the sad reality. Republican leadership is in a room strategizing, but it's not about how to beat Harry Reid and Pelosi and Obama. It's how to beat conservatives. It's how, frankly, their target, Mitch McConnell's staff brags to the press that they've developed a strategy to beat Cruz and beat the conservatives and fund all of Obama's agenda. And it's why people are so furious because we end up -- this deal was a golden parachute for John Boehner. If you recall, the day Boehner announced he resigned, I said at the time, I said this means he has cut a deal with Nancy Pelosi to raise the debt ceiling and fund all of Obama's agenda for two years. It turned out some in the media criticized me, saying you don't know that. Well, that's exactly what they did. People are fed up with it.

HANNITY: Yes. I've got to run. I would say this is a very big night for you. In part you got more time in this debate than probably the other two combined, and probably the line of the night against the media. And I want to say something. I would be all in for a moderated debate with me, Rush, and Mark up there if they're on board. I'll ask Reince Priebus if he's willing to do so. So thank you, sir.

CRUZ: And Sean, let me tell you, the Republican primary voters would love to hear that debate because you're strong conservatives who would want to focus on the difference between the candidates and help people make the decision we need to make.

HANNITY: It wouldn't be a gotcha debate. Thank you, senator. Appreciate your time, and good night for you tonight.

CRUZ: Exactly. Take care.

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