Cruz doubles down on ‘NY values,’ gets a Bronx cheer

The heated debate over “New York values” intensified on the presidential trail Sunday, with leading GOP candidates battling over the accuracy and meaning of the divisive phrase. “I think the American people are looking for a commander-in-chief who is stable and steady and a calm hand to keep this country safe”.

But Trump embraced his NY roots, invoking the city’s response to the September 11, 2001, terror attacks. “And the bottom line is he does not understand, in the least, NY values”.

Cruz minutes ago issued an “apology” that looks more like it it came from today’s cover of the NY Post than from Emily Post.

And he issued an elaborate “apology” Friday on the conservative radio show of Sean Hannity that was a taunting list of Democratic politicians and liberal causes.

“I apologize to all the pro-life, pro-marriage, pro-Second Amendment New Yorkers who were told by Gov. Cuomo that they have no place in New York because that’s not who New Yorkers are”, he said.

Cruz argued that liberal “New York values” were formulated by Donald Trump himself, noting a 1999 “Meet the Press” interview with Tim Russert in which Trump said he was “very pro-choice” and cited his “New York background”.

“There are many, many wonderful working men and women in the state of NY”.

The New Yorker took aim not at Trump, but the media, calling on TV news outlets to hold Trump more accountable for his statements.

Cruz “has no trouble taking money from New York City, but he’s quick to insult our people and our values”, said de Blasio.

Jezebel writer Joanna Rothkopf slammed Cruz’s rhetoric as anti-Semitic on Friday, comparing him to an “in-house comic at Fuhrer headquarters”.

But the Cruz comments, in addition to prompting Cuomo’s calls, sparked a day-long Twitter frenzy and lengthy cable news coverage and analysis of the talk.

“I don’t think you can. It was the real life of a city that Ted Cruz knows nothing about”, he wrote.

“I would hope that all New Yorkers allow everybody to speak about what they have to say”. “New York values are the NY taxi driver who traveled three boroughs across four days to find the guy who had left $1,400 in his cab, so he could return the money to him”. “If he displays the type of prejudice he did against New Yorkers, I don’t think he’s fit for the office”.