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WATCH: Ted Cruz Dodges CNN's Question About Antigay Pastor

WATCH: Ted Cruz Dodges CNN's Question About Antigay Pastor

CNN

CNN's Jake Tapper asked the U.S. senator from Texas: 'are you not endorsing conservative intolerance?' But instead of a straight answer, he got deflection.

Lifeafterdawn

Despite whining by Republicans running for president about "gotcha" questions from reporters and debate moderators, some journalists are sticking to their guns.

CNN anchor Jake Tapper tried to pin down one candidate Thursday about his apparent double standard for intolerance: Sen. Ted Cruz of Texas.

Cruz is set to join two fellow Republican presidential candidates in Iowa this weekend-- former Arkansas governor Mike Huckabee and Louisiana Gov. Bobby Jindal -- at a conference organized by antigay pastor and activist Kevin Swanson. The gathering is billed as focusing on "religious liberties." Read more about the conference here.

As Right Wing Watchreported, three of the conference's scheduled speakers, including Swanson, support the death penalty for gays. Swanson is the same zealot who dubbed Disney's Frozen a "gay indoctrination film."

Swanson's antigay rhetoric was the subject of the last question Tapper asked Sen. Cruz at the end of his interview Thursday. Tapper cited Cruz's complaints about "liberal intolerance" and asked him to explain how, by appearing with Swanson he was not endorsing "conservative intolerance."

Cruz dodged the question by claiming ignorance of Swanson's record and launched right into his standard stump speech about how Christians are being persecuted, running out the clock as the program ended.

Watch this portion of CNN's The Lead with Jake Tapper, below.

Lifeafterdawn
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The Advocate's news editor Dawn Ennis successfully transitioned from broadcast journalism to online media following another transition that made headlines; in 2013, she became the first trans staffer in any major TV network newsroom. As the first out transgender editor at The Advocate, the native New Yorker continues her 30-year media career, in which she has earned more than a dozen awards, including two Emmys. With the blessing of her three children, Dawn retains the most important job title she's ever held: Dad.
The Advocate's news editor Dawn Ennis successfully transitioned from broadcast journalism to online media following another transition that made headlines; in 2013, she became the first trans staffer in any major TV network newsroom. As the first out transgender editor at The Advocate, the native New Yorker continues her 30-year media career, in which she has earned more than a dozen awards, including two Emmys. With the blessing of her three children, Dawn retains the most important job title she's ever held: Dad.