Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Tx.) released an ad on Friday that in 30 seconds shreds real estate mogul Donald Trump for his support of eminent domain.
Here is the full transcript of the ad, via RedState:
VO: Eminent Domain. A fancy term for politicians seizing private property to enrich the fat cats who bankroll them. Like Trump.
TRUMP: I think eminent domain is wonderful.
VO: It made him rich. Like when Trump colluded with Atlantic City insiders to bulldoze the home of an elderly widow for a limousine parking lot at his casino.
VERA COKING (the aforesaid widow): He doesn’t have a heart, that man.
VO: Trump won’t change the system, he’s what’s wrong with it.
In response to the ad, Trump doubled down on his support for eminent domain on Twitter.
Ted Cruz complains about my views on eminent domain, but without it we wouldn’t have roads, highways, airports, schools or even pipelines.
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) January 22, 2016
Trump supporters don’t seem to bothered by his stance on eminent domain, but any freedom-loving American should be, as it is a violation of private-property rights.
Radio host and constitutional scholar Mark Levin writes about the case Kelo v. City of New London in his book Men and Black: How the Supreme Court Is Destroying America, in which the city of New London, Ct. attempted to evict homeowners in order for the city take it over and give it to private developers to supposedly improve the area. The Supreme Court sided with the city, and Levin argues that in doing so the court eviscerated the takings clause of the Fifth Amendment.
“The takings clause provides that private property may not be ‘taken for for public use, without just compensation,” writes Levin. “Therefore, if the government takes your land to build a road or military base, it must properly compensate you.”
The debate in the Kelo case was the definition of “public use,” and the Court twisted the term to allow for an ever-expansive government to infringe on private property rights.
“According to the Court’s activists, ‘public use’ really means ‘public purpose,'” Levin writes. “And the phrase ‘public purpose’ means just about whatever any government wants it to mean. Five of the nine justices voted to diminish private property rights and expand the power of government beyond its constitutional limits.”
Levin emphasizes this passage from Justice Clarence Thomas’s dissent in the Kelo case: “Something has gone seriously awry with this Court’s interpretation of the Constitution. Though citizens are safe from the government in their homes, the homes themselves are not.”
“There is nothing more fundamental than the principle that a man’s home is his castle. Donald Trump’s career-long willingness to trample this right tells you everything you need to know about his bogus tea-party sideshow.”
Michelle Malkin
Naturally, Trump loves the Kelo case, saying he agrees with it “100 percent.” As columnist Michelle Malkin writes, “Championing liberty begins at the local level. There is nothing more fundamental than the principle that a man’s home is his castle. Donald Trump’s career-long willingness to trample this right tells you everything you need to know about his bogus tea-party sideshow.”
Cruz highlighting Trump’s eminent domain stance is a smart maneuver as each candidate tries to woo over the Iowa evangelicals.