Republican presidential candidate Ted Cruz on Sunday painted himself as a defender of the Second Amendment in multiple scenarios and against multiple forces, taking shots at President Barack Obama, GOP rival Donald Trump, as well as Democratic presidential candidates Hillary Clinton and Bernie Sanders.
Cruz, appearing on multiple Sunday talk shows, argued that there should be a delay in nominating a Supreme Court justice because of the Second Amendment, saying that the U.S. is "one justice away" from it being written out of the Constitution.
"You know what? The Senate is advising right now," he said on NBC's "Meet the Press.," according to The New York Times. "We're advising that a lame-duck president in an election year is not going to be able to tip the balance of the Supreme Court, that we're going to have an election."
However, President Obama was not the only target of Cruz's stance on the Second Amendment and the nomination process. He also used those issues to bolster his position in the 2016 race, saying Donald Trump was "indistinguishable" from Hillary Clinton and Bernie Sanders, because he is "not a conservative."
"We are one justice away from the Second Amendment being written out of the constitution altogether," he said, according to the Washington Examiner. "And if you vote for Donald Trump in this next election, you are voting for undermining our Second Amendment right to keep and bear arms."
On ABC's This Week, Cruz reiterated that talking point, saying, "And if Donald Trump becomes president, the Second Amendment will be written out of the Constitution, because it is abundantly clear that Donald Trump is not a conservative," according to The Hill.
The Texas senator characterized the late Justice Antonin Scalia as a strong defender of the Second Amendment for his 2008 decision in District of Columbia v. Heller, which upheld the right to bear arms. "Justice Scalia, one of his biggest opinions was the Heller decision," Cruz said, according to RealClear Politics. "It was 5-4 upholding the individual right to keep and bear arms. If an additional liberal justice goes to the court, we're one justice away from the Second Amendment being written out."
