On Monday's CNN Newsroom with Brooke Baldwin, host Baldwin provided a forum for a gay Republican to complain about GOP presidential candidate Ted Cruz's unwillingness to criticize current proposals for religious freedom laws in some states in response to the U.S. Supreme Court ruling mandating same-sex marriage availability nationwide.
Referring to a town hall for Cruz held on Monday's Good Morning America on ABC, Baldwin set up the segment: "Ted Cruz accused of dodging a question from a married gay Republican who asked him on live television what Senator Cruz would do to protect his rights in the face of controversial religious liberty laws. Watch."
After showing a clip of registered Republican Todd Calongne asking Senator what he would do to "protect me and my husband from that institutionalized discrimination," with Cruz defending the concept of religious freedom in his response, Baldwin brought aboard Calongne as her guest and began by inviting him to slam Cruz. Baldwin:
Joining me now -- shaking his head a little bit still listening to Ted Cruz, I can tell -- Todd Calongne is with us. He is a Louisiana boy originally, moved up to New York from Washington four years ago, owns a pizza place here. Lifelong Republican, still undecided. Nice to meet you, sir. First of all, I mean, I'm guessing, shaking your head and hearing it again, did he dodge you?
Calongne took aim at Cruz as he responded:
He's on the wrong side of history. I mean, clearly, he doesn't know what to say when somebody says, "Are you going to support me as a President of all the people? Or are you just going to be kind of a right-wing conservative as a President?"
He soon added that the Texas Senator "did not impress me":
TODD CALONGNE: I mean, so far, the problem with the Republican party right now is they put me in a box, right? I have three choices. One doesn't look like he's got a shot. Trump has quite a lead. And then you have-
BROOKE BALDWIN: The man you talked to this morning.
CALONGNE: The man I just spoke to this morning who did not impress me.
Below is a complete transcript of the segment from the Monday, April 18, CNN Newsroom with Brooke Baldwin:
BROOKE BALDWIN: Ted Cruz accused of dodging a question from a married gay Republican who asked him on live television what Senator Cruz would do to protect his rights in the face of controversial religious liberty laws. Watch.
TODD CALONGNE, REPUBLICAN VOTER: I've noticed a lot of religious freedom laws and somewhat institutionalized discrimination laws happening around the country. What would you do as President to protect me and my husband from that institutionalized discrimination?
SENATOR TED CRUZ (R-TX): Well, listen, when it comes to religious liberty, religious liberty is something that protects every one of us. It is the very first amendment, very first phrase protected in the First Amendment of the Bill of Rights. And religious liberty -- it applies to Christians, it applies to Jews, it applies to Muslims, it applies to atheists. And all of us, we want to live in a world where we don't have the government dictating our beliefs, dictating how we live. We have a right to live according to our faith, according to our conscience. And that freedom ultimately protects each and every one of us
BALDWIN: Joining me now -- shaking his head a little bit still listening to Ted Cruz, I can tell -- Todd Calongne is with us. He is a Louisiana boy originally, moved up to New York from Washington four years ago, owns a pizza place here. Lifelong Republican, still undecided. Nice to meet you, sir. First of all, I mean, I'm guessing, shaking your head and hearing it again, did he dodge you?
TODD CALONGNE, REPUBLICAN VOTER: He's on the wrong side of history. I mean, clearly, he doesn't know what to say when somebody says, "Are you going to support me as a President of all the people? Or are you just going to be kind of a right-wing conservative as a President?"
BALDWIN: Are you a lifelong Republican?
CALONGNE: Yup.
BALDWIN: Are you having leanings?
CALONGNE: I mean, so far, the problem with the Republican party right now is they put me in a box, right? I have three choices. One doesn't look like he's got a shot. Trump has quite a lead. And then you have-
BALDWIN: The man you talked to this morning.
CALONGNE: The man I just spoke to this morning who did not impress me.
BALDWIN: So, process of elimination, are you leaning Trump?
CALONGNE: I'm leaning Trump. That's what I said this morning, too. I have to lean Trump because there's really not a lot of options right now. But I would love to hear what Trump says on my issue. Maybe you should tweet him.
BALDWIN: How would you like Donald Trump to answer that very same question?
CALONGNE: I would like Donald Trump to, well, the thing is, the federal government's going to have very little ability to change anything, so what I'd love for a presidential candidate to say is, through the leadership of being the President, I would be speaking in a way that's accepting and allowing of people to, you know, buy cakes on their wedding day or the problems with some of these discrimination laws are -- or religious freedom laws.
BALDWIN: What holds you back from going all in on Donald Trump?
CALONGNE: Maybe some of the rhetoric in the past, and I feel like there's a negative -- there's a negative bias against him, so it's hard to say, you know, I'm for Trump, but a lot of people will say, "I'm for Trump," and they kind of whisper it.
BALDWIN: Like kind of whispering?
CALONGNE: Yeah. So I think that's where I'm at right now. But I'm still, you now, registered Republican, I'm going to vote tomorrow, and I'm going to do my best.
BALDWIN: What do you make -- I know you say you watch CNN, thank you very much for that --
CALONGNE: Of course.
BALDWIN: --what do you make of just, being a New Yorker, and it's been a bit of a circus the last two weeks in New York with the candidates coming through -- it's been fascinating to cover -- but just this election overall.
CALONGNE: Well, it's shocking to see New York as taking a part in it.
BALDWIN: It's been years, decades.
CALONGNE: I've worked with elections in the past, and we never touched on New York-
BALDWIN: It never mattered.
CALONGNE: It was a Democratic state, and maybe it mattered for a primary, but that was about it. It's really amazing to see. I mean, just to see the Hillary and Bernie and Trump and Cruz-
BALDWIN: Saturated.
CAONGNE: -stuff everywhere, yeah. It's exciting.
BALDWIN: All right, Todd Calongne, we'll follow up with you and see which way you go down the road. Thank you very much. Nice to meet you.
