Cruz: ‘I was not a community organizer’

by Jesse Byrnes - 03/29/15 10:36 AM ET

Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Texas), the only major declared Republican presidential candidate, is defending his credentials as a freshman senator while pursuing a White House bid.

“Unlike Barack Obama, I was not a community organizer before I was elected to the Senate,” Cruz said during an interview aired on CNN’s “State of the Union.”

{mosads}”I spent five and a half years as the solicitor general of Texas,” Cruz said. “I supervised and led every appeal for the state of Texas in a 4,000-person agency with over 700 lawyers. And over the course of five and a half years, over and over, Texas led the nation defending conservative principles and winning.”

Cruz panned Obama, a fellow Harvard Law graduate, as a “backbencher” during his time in the Senate.

“There are a lot more noticeable differences between us than similarities,” Cruz said.

Cruz announced his White House bid last week. Republican Sens. Rand Paul (Ky.) and Marco Rubio (Fla.) are expected to announce their bids within weeks, and former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush and Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker are also likely to announce their intentions to join the crowded GOP 2016 field.

Tags Sunday shows Ted Cruz