that ted cruz could grow that support among evangelicals in iowa, if he could win iowa and beat donald trump then, you think of a state like south carolina which comes very quickly after, south carolina is another state where evangelicals really hold sway. right now donald trump is leading among evangelicals in south carolina. the threat, though, is if cruz can beat him in iowa, if cruz can consolidate the evangelicals in iowa, does that have a ripple effect in other states if he beats trump in iowa. that s a big piece of news, bob vanderplaats, a top evangelical leader in iowa, casting his lot with ted cruz, trump s rival and a bit of shameless self-promotion. 4:30 this afternoon we ll be talking live on the air with bob vanderplaats about that endorsement. it follows the highly popular radio talk show host steve king as well and msnbc s steve kornacki. i feel like i m in a trio of steves here.
was speaking generally, it was not a departure about what he said about other candidates in the past. it was not an attack against donald trump as that new york times headline seems to suggest. team cruz is instead hoping to pivot to good news coming out of iowa, which is an endorsement from bob vanderplats. this endorsement coveted by all. you have bob vanderplaats and steve deace. it is good momentum for cruz as he hopes to make a play for iowa and overtake the current front-runner nationally, donald trump, here in the state. looks like the organization is coming together. i want to check in with francis. she s been monitoring your reaction to our poll question. this is what we re asking in
evangelical community? he has run for governor. terry branstead longtime governor out there, i think this is his sixth term. vanderplaats actually did fairly well against him. a ten-point race. he certainly has a constituency out there. the community in iowa is often split. this is a signal that other evangelical leaders may pick up on and say it s time to get serious about coalescing behind one candidate. the spillover for trump, the problem for trump is if cruz catches him in iowa with evangelicals, there are other states further down the line and south carolina comes to mind where trump is leading right now thanks to evangelicals, but if trump loses to iowa thanks to evangelicals, is a broader shift we ll see happening? you ll be talking to vanderplaats in the next hour. yes. just wanted to mention that. we have new wall street journal /nbc poll numbers coming out 5:00 today. i can tell you what it s
showing cruz closing in on and even overtaking donald trump, thanks to support from evangelicals. and bob vander plaats joins us now. i saw an interview where you said you did not want to go with an establishment candidate. when you look at this republican field, who do you define as an establishment candidate and why can t they win? all you have to do is ask president mccain and president romney why. we don t win when we vote more to the center. ted cruz is a principled conservative, a bold leader. when america gets a chance to see ted cruz in person and on the debate stage with hillary clinton, i think you re going to look at the next president of the united states. and he s the kind of guy with the character that we definitely lead for such a time as this.
trump. there is, but there s a second story here and a bit of news about the man who right now is emerging as the biggest threat of the moment to donald trump on the republican side and that is ted cruz, the one candidate who is not attacking donald trump. ted cruz receiving, well, we ll show you this in a minute. but the news is that ted cruz just a few minutes ago received a critical endorsement out in iowa from a man named bob vanderplaats and bob vanderplaats is a leader of the evangelical christian community out in iowa. he s twice backed the winner out there. he backed mike huckabee in 2008. he endorsed rick santorum in 2012. just a moment ago he threw his support behind ted cruz. and cruz has been creeping up on trip out there in iowa and caught him in one recent poll. you can see the froern that is in iowa, ted cruz leading donald trump among evangelicals right now. threat to trump from this endorsement today from an influential evangelical leader