Ted Cruz: “The Ayatollah, who is no longer with us, not once but twice…”

“The Iranian regime has killed nearly 1,000Americans. They've provided over 90% of the funding to Hamas, Hezbollah, to the Houthis. And The Ayatollah, who is no longer with us, not once but twice hired hitmen to try to murder President Trump. And so President Trump, as commander in chief, made the resolute decision to act to protect Americans, to keep Americans safer. Mr. Kent apparently disagreed with that.” (00:58–01:08)

This is an excerpt from a raw transcript. The assertions have not been audited or verified. Tap the video to view the source footage and understand the context.