From PolitiFact Texas:
Political reporter Jonathan Swan sat down with U.S. Sen. Ted Cruz, R-Texas, for an interview that aired on HBO, to gather his thoughts and reactions immediately following the final presidential debate on Oct. 22.
The pair touched on a range of issues but paid special attention to the national debt and the Republican Party’s wavering interest in reducing it under President Donald Trump, whose administration has overseen trillions added to the national debt.
Swan kicked off the conversation by paraphrasing a quote from former White House Chief of Staff Mick Mulvaney. During a trip to Britain earlier this year, Mulvaney remarked on Republicans’ shifting attitude on reducing the debt.
“My party is very interested in deficits when there is a Democrat in the White House. The worst thing in the whole world is deficits when Barack Obama was the president. Then Donald Trump became president, and we’re a lot less interested as a party,” Mulvaney said, according to the Washington Post.
When Swan asked Cruz to respond to Mulvaney’s portrayal, Cruz emphasized his own personal concerns about the rising debt.
“I’m very worried about the debt. I’m worried about it under Trump,” Cruz said. “Now to be fair, Trump didn’t campaign on cutting the debt.”
Hear how Cruz’s claim scored in the player above.