Pete King: I’d ‘never’ vote for Cruz
Rep. Pete King (R-N.Y.) on Tuesday shied away from throwing his support behind either Donald Trump or John Kasich, instead stressing his position on the third Republican running for president.
“I can tell you one thing: I would never vote for Ted Cruz,” King, a former backer of Marco Rubio, said during an appearance Tuesday afternoon on CNN.
{mosads}King has long criticized the Texas senator, including telling him in January to “go back under a rock” after the candidate questioned Trump’s “New York values.”
Cruz has since emerged as the top challenger to Trump and several former rivals, including Jeb Bush, have backed him, while Trump has picked up a handful of congressional endorsements.
A pair of New York Republicans, Reps. Tom Reed and Chris Collins, have endorsed Trump ahead of the state’s April 19 primary. King said he’d wait to decide who he’d vote for there.
Many opponents of Trump have come together behind the #NeverTrump movement, spurring others to rally around an alternative #NeverCruz push as votes are cast Tuesday in Wisconsin.
Cruz is hoping to keep Trump below the 1,237 delegates needed for the nomination, forcing a contested convention this summer where Kasich is also eyeing a chance at the nomination.
While praising Kasich as showing perhaps “the most” regarding his qualifications, King hedged Tuesday, saying, “We have to see who has the best chance of winning, what’s gonna happen.”
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