Ted Cruz: “You've had over 8 million Venezuelans flee the country.”

“And yet this is proof that communism is, even with the number one oil reserve in the world, still doesn't work. Yeah, Chavez, and then Maduro, after him, destroyed the economy. Poverty skyrocketed. You've had over 8 million Venezuelans flee the country. go to neighboring countries, go to the United States, because they've just driven the economy into the ground. There also have been dictators and drug dealers.” (19:23–19:28)

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.