In a final push for Wisconsin voters, presidential candidate Ted Cruz came to Madison Monday for a town hall at the Masonic Center.
The event, hosted by Fox News anchor Megyn Kelly, provided Cruz a platform to reiterate his message before voters cast their ballots in Tuesday’s primary elections. Gov. Scott Walker joined the Texas senator halfway through the event to voice his support for the candidate.
“Here in Wisconsin, people work for something and not against something,” Walker said on why he will vote for Cruz instead of Donald Trump.
Former presidential candidate Carly Fiorina was also at the event, as well as U.S. Sen. Mike Lee, R-Utah, and Cruz’s wife, Heidi.
During the event, Cruz remained positive about his chances, maintaining that a Wisconsin victory would keep the nomination away from fellow candidate Trump and mark a trail to the party nomination. When Kelly questioned Cruz’s future in the race, especially in the face of substantial support for Trump, Cruz responded to any doubts that he can outperform the current Republican frontrunner.
“Let’s talk about the last two weeks,” Cruz said. “Donald Trump has gotten his rear end whipped.”
Selected audience members posed questions to the candidate, with topics including abortion, Obamacare and the federal deficit.
Cruz outlined his plan for the future of health care, vowing to allow people to purchase insurance across state lines, expand health savings and de-link health insurance to jobs if he were elected president.
On the issue of abortion, Cruz stated that he hoped to “change American hearts and minds” toward his pro-life stance. In order to reduce the deficit and curb government spending, Cruz emphasized his prerogative to establish a flat tax and focus on economic growth.
When host Megyn Kelly questioned whether or not he would back Trump as the nominee, Cruz offered an alternate solution.
“I don’t want to see Donald as the nominee, so we are going to beat him,” Cruz said.
