Republican presidential candidate Ted
Cruz on Saturday told a crowd of evangelicals that the issue of
whether gay and lesbian couples can marry is not settled.
Speaking at a “rally for religious
freedom” at Bob Jones University in Greenville, South Carolina,
Cruz, a senator from Texas, vowed to “fight” marriage equality.
“This is not settled,” Cruz
said. “It's not the law of the land. It's not the
Constitution. It's not legitimate, and we will stand and fight.”
Cruz told the audience that the Tenth
Amendment leaves the definition of marriage “to the states and …
people.”
Cruz has made his opposition to the
Supreme Court's June ruling striking down gay marriage bans
nationwide an essential message of his campaign.
At Saturday's event, he also took a
swipe at GOP rivals who have “moved on,” calling their reactions
to the high court's ruling “sad.”
Cruz's wife, Heidi Cruz, and his
father, Rafael Cruz, also attended the event. The elder Cruz, a
pastor, said that he believes that the ruling had awakened
evangelical voters.