Cruz: Trump afraid to defend his record

Republican presidential candidate Ted Cruz said late Tuesday that Donald Trump’s fear of defending his record is behind the GOP front-runner’s boycott of the next Fox News GOP presidential debate.

“The reality is, the reason Donald is doing this — I actually don’t think it’s because of [Fox News host] Megyn [Kelly] at all,” he said on Fox News’s “Hannity.” 

{mosads}“I think it’s because he’s afraid to defend his record, that he knows he can’t defend his record, and he’s trying to hide from the voters of Iowa,” Cruz said six days from the first voting state’s caucuses next Monday. 

“He’s not willing to stand up and explain why he supports Bernie Sanders-style, full-on socialized medicine, expanding ObamaCare so the federal government is in charge of our healthcare,” he said, tying Trump with the Democratic presidential contender.

“He can’t explain why today he supports taxpayer funding for Planned Parenthood,” Cruz added. 

“He can’t explain why he supported Obama’s stimulus plan and supported Obama’s TARP bail-out of the big banks. He doesn’t want to answer those questions, and he refuses to show up.”

Cruz argued that Trump’s claims of bias from Kelly reveal he is not capable of confronting more powerful public figures.

“If you’re afraid of Megyn Kelly, then you’re going to be afraid of Hillary Clinton and you’re going to be afraid of Vladimir Putin,” he said.

“If you’re afraid to have anyone ask a question, that does not bode well for what kind of commander in chief you’d make,” the Texas lawmaker added.

Trump announced late Tuesday that he is skipping the seventh GOP presidential debate in Des Moines, Iowa, Thursday evening.

Kelly and Trump have publicly sparred since the first debate last August. The outspoken billionaire disliked her questions about his past remarks toward women.