Ted Cruz with VOZ: 'The Hispanic community is fundamentally conservative'

With more than 12 years in the Senate, a presidential campaign and a podcast that reaches millions, Ted Cruz (R-TX) established himself in recent years as one of the most influential voices in the Republican Party.

In an interview with VOZ in Washington, D.C., the senator discussed why the Hispanic vote is swinging to the Republican Party and recalled his viral crossover with Tucker Carlson.

In addition, he expressed himself on the role of the Trump administration in Latin America, the growth of isolationism in the Republican Party and school choice, which he defines as "the civil rights issue of the 21st century."

"The Hispanic community is fundamentally conservative"

The senator began by assessing the importance of the Hispanic community and how it went from being a key supporter of the famous "Obama Coalition" to becoming an increasingly Republican-leaning constituency.

"We are the party of jobs and the party of opportunity. I think the Hispanic community is a fundamentally conservative community. If you look at the values that resonate in our community, faith, family, patriotism. Many people don't know that Hispanics have the highest military enlistment rate of any demographic group in this country. And at the heart of it all is the American dream," Cruz said.

He also noted that he won the Hispanic vote in the 2024 Senate elections, something he called "unprecedented."

"If you look at the Rio Grande Valley, the Rio Grande Valley has been bright blue, it's been Democratic for a hundred years. Donald Trump won in the valley and I won in the valley. That's transformative, and it's because we're the party of jobs and we're the party that represents the values that resonate in the Latino community," he added.

"On foreign policy, Tucker has gone nuts"

Moments later, the Texas senator referred to his viral interview with Tucker Carlson, who challenged him on the Trump administration's policy toward Iran, Russia and Israel. The one-on-one exceeded 8 million plays on X.

"I knew the interview would be contentious. I've known Tucker a long time. I agree with Tucker on about 80 percent of the issues, but I think on foreign policy, the guy's gone nuts. He's just gotten really extreme. And I did the interview because I wanted to take on those ideas, because I think what he is arguing for is wrong," Cruz said.

The Republican also defended the Trump administration's policy on the Middle East, stressing that the bombings of Iran's nuclear facilities were "incredibly successful."

He further asserted that the president is a "strong" commander-in-chief, even feared by America's enemies, something that did not happen during Joe Biden and Kamala Harris' tenure. "He is not going to sit idly by while a theocratic madman develops nuclear weapons and is threatening to use them to murder millions of Americans."

"I thought it was important to make that case that we need strong American leadership in the world. I think President Trump's foreign policy has been exactly right. And I think those that have been attacking and criticizing President Trump, like Tucker Carlson, that they've been wrong. And their view, Tucker's view is much closer to Joe Biden and Kamala Harris's on foreign policy than it is to President Trump. And I think Biden and Harris withdrew from the world. That was a mistake. And President Trump, we again have a strong American president," the senator continued.

"Unfortunately, there are a growing number of isolationists in the Republican Party"

On the Republican Party's different approaches to foreign policy, Cruz differentiated himself from both the interventionists and the isolationists. For him, the former group knows no country they don't want to invade, while the latter is comfortable being alienated from the world.

"I consider myself a third point on the triangle. I am a non-interventionist hawk. And by the way, I think that is exactly where President Trump is. And I think that's exactly where Ronald Reagan is. Reagan referred to it as peace through strength. In eight years, the biggest country Reagan ever invaded was Grenada. He didn't invade foreign countries. But what he also did is built our military strong enough that he won the Cold War and defeated the Soviet Union without firing a shot. Likewise, President Trump has proven very adept at getting us out of war," he explained.

"The job of our military is to protect American citizens and keep us safe. That's what President Trump did. And I think that's what the vast majority of Americans want," he added.

The role of the United States in Latin America and the case of Venezuela

When it came to talking about Venezuela, Cruz referred to Nicolás Maduro as an "illegitimate and oppressive dictator." "I think President Trump has been a powerful voice for freedom across the globe, and I think if you compare the Trump presidency to the Biden presidency, the Trump presidency, President Trump has stood with our friends and allies, and has stood up to our enemies," he added.

In comparison to the Biden administration, Cruz remarked that Trump is bringing closer those leaders who effectively want to maintain a good relationship with the United States.

"In Brazil, Jair Bolsonaro, a strong pro-American, wanted to stand with America, the largest country in all of Latin America, tilting toward the United States. That was unequivocally good. What happened? Biden came in, did everything they could to undermine Bolsonaro because they wanted instead Lula, an anti-American leftist, who hates this country. That was bad for Latin America, bad for Brazil, and it was bad for the United States. Same thing in Colombia. Colombia, Ivan Duque, friends with America, pivoting towards America, defending freedom. The Biden administration came in, undermined Duque at every stage. Now we have Gustavo Petro, another anti-American leftist who hates our country," the Texas Republican continued.

The importance of school choice for families

As he has already done in different speeches and presentations, Cruz affirmed that school choice is "the great civil rights issue of the 21st century." For the senator, competition among schools increases quality, provides more options for parents and improves the education system in general.

In the "Big Beautiful Bill" already enacted by Trump, the senator introduced a provision granting up to $5 billion a year in federal tax credits for donations made to nonprofits that provide scholarships to students who opt for private or alternative-to-public schools. The Republican asserted that this provision will age as one of the most important pieces of legislation signed by the president.

"Education opens up opportunity, and there are far too many kids in this country right now who are trapped in failing schools. And they are disproportionately low-income kids, and they're disproportionately African-American and Hispanic. And the Democrat Party for years has said to those African-American and Hispanic kids, tough luck. We're not going to do anything to give you hope. We're not going to do anything to help you,'" he explained.

"School choice it's how you help people get out of poverty. It's how you help people get out of failing schools and get an excellent education. I think every child in America deserves access to an excellent education, regardless of their race, their wealth, or their zip code," Cruz concluded.