Cruz to debate moderators: Avoid ‘birther nonsense’

Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Texas) says there’s no need for the moderators of Sunday’s presidential debate to bring up Donald Trump’s questioning of President Obama’s birthplace.

“Sometimes the debate moderators are dwelling on issues that are not front and center, such as the first presidential debate where we spent a great deal of time talking about the birther nonsense,” Cruz said Friday, according to Politico.

{mosads}“Voters don’t give a flying flip about [birtherism].”

Cruz said last week’s presidential debate ignored far too many issues of consequence for Americans.

“Our religious liberty, our free speech, our Second Amendment [rights] all hang in the balance this election,” said Cruz.

“Not a word of that was asked the first debate. There wasn’t a single question about the Supreme Court. I hope that changes going forward.”

Cruz called for Sunday’s debate to address former President Bill Clinton’s criticism this week of ObamaCare.

“His wife Hillary Clinton is running promising to keep ObamaCare and expand it and make it worse,” he said.

“Instead of focusing on the nonsense [at the debate], we ought to be focusing more on the people who are hurting right now.”

ABC’s Martha Raddatz and CNN’s Anderson Cooper will moderate Sunday’s town hall-style debate at Washington University in St. Louis.

Clinton, the Democratic presidential nominee, derided Trump, the Republican nominee, during the first presidential debate of 2016 for repeatedly questioning Obama’s birthplace.

“It can’t be dismissed that easily,” she said. “He has really started his political activity based on this racist lie that our first black president was not an American citizen.”

Trump acknowledged Obama was born in the U.S. in a terse statement at a campaign event last month.