Ted Cruz recently leveled an attack at Donald Trump that kind of blew up in his face, but on Wednesday morning’s New Day, CNN’s Dana Bash pressed Cruz’s wife on some “New York values” of her own, quizzing Heidi Cruz about her ties to Goldman Sachs, and how they might influence her husband.
Mrs. Cruz, as she explained, runs Goldman Sachs’ “private wealth business in the Southwest from Houston,” although she’s on a leave of absence now. Her employment with the firm has been cast as a political liability for Cruz, who failed to disclose a loan from the firm on his 2012 FEC filings. It’s the sort of thing that could make it difficult for Ted Cruz to contrast himself with Hillary Clinton, whose ties to the firm have also been made an issue, and Heidi didn’t set the table very well for him by telling Bash that “Ted doesn’t have an ant-Wall Street sentiment.”
Dana Bash: It may surprise some people that Ted Cruz, who went in riding a wave of anti-Washington sentiment, that his wife, you, are an executive at Goldman Sachs, the epitome of Wall Street. Do you see any contradiction there?
Heidi Cruz: I don’t. Ted doesn’t have an anti Wall Street sentiment. He has an anti government support sentiment, an anti-relying on government for their well-being.
Bash: Ted ran hard against the bailout, for example, which helped all of Wall Street, including Goldman Sachs. Can you understand people having that “Really? His wife works for Goldman Sachs?” kind of moment?
Cruz: If people have that moment, they should look what Ted is running against and running on, and what I do for a living. Ted and I are united in our principles. I run the private wealth business in the Southwest from Houston. I’m on a full-time leave of absence. And the job that I have at that firm is in many ways the heart of helping people who have achieved the American dream. And Ted is running on reigniting the promise of America.
Bash: When we talk about Goldman Sachs, what Donald Trump is saying you got a loan from Goldman Sachs, Ted Cruz is beholden to this big wall street bank.
Cruz: Is he bought and sold by the big banks?
Bash: Not my question. What Donald Trump is suggesting that is happening.
Cruz: Yeah. There are a lot of false suggestions out there. I think some candidates are trying to distract from how well Ted is doing in this election.
Bash: And that’s what this is about? That’s why Trump is saying that?
Cruz: I think so, yeah. When you look at our financial history, it’s public, we put it all out there. We paid back those loans.
Heidi Cruz is obviously trying to help her husband, but in the process, she may have just cut a great attack ad for Donald Trump. No one is suggesting that Cruz didn’t pay back the loan, and if she’s trying to convince people that Cruz isn’t beholden to Goldman Sachs, saying “Ted doesn’t have an anti-Wall Street sentiment” might not be the best way to go about it.
This is an opinion piece. The views expressed in this article are those of just the author.
