• Politics

How Ted Cruz is Using Spanish in His Presidential Campaign

4 minute read

In 2012, then-Senate candidate Ted Cruz refused to debate his opponent in Spanish. Aside from being a “lousy” Spanish speaker, Cruz argued it was a bad idea: “Most Texans speak English … [My opponent] wants to do a debate in a language where the vast majority of primary voters don’t understand it, because he doesn’t want them to hear about his record.”

But when he launched his presidential campaign Monday, the Texas Republican posted a Spanish language ad on YouTube. In keeping with his previous argument, however, the ad does not feature any discussion of policy, instead focusing only on Cruz’s personal story.

“The story of Ted Cruz is like the story of many American families,” the ad begins (in Spanish). It then talks about how his father was a Cuban immigrant, and how Cruz was raised to believe in what America represents: “Faith, liberty and opportunity.”

The ad differs from one in English posted at the same time, which mentions his opposition to the Affordable Care Act, the debt ceiling increase and President Obama’s executive action on immigration.

Cruz does not speak Spanish, but the ad is a sign that he hopes to compete with the other 2016 contenders who have inroads to the Hispanic community: Jeb Bush, who is fluent in Spanish and married to a Mexican woman, and Marco Rubio, the bilingual son of Cuban-American immigrants.

Still, it won’t do much for Cruz in the crucial early primary states of Iowa, New Hampshire and South Carolina, which don’t have substantial Latino populations. The first time Spanish will likely come into play in the election will be in Florida, which has the third-largest Hispanic population in the country after California and Texas.

But the existence of the ad can be a selling point. After the 2012 election, the Republican Party put together a post-mortem report that argued that the party needs to do a better job of reaching out to minorities. The ad is one way to signal to the conservative base that Cruz thinks he can do just that in a general election campaign with Hispanics, who make up 17% of the nation.

Some experts say the fact that Cruz doesn’t speak Spanish himself isn’t a big problem. “It is obviously heartening to the community when someone speaks to them in Spanish, and it is an asset they can use on television and radio,” Henry Cisneros, former mayor of San Antonio, Texas, told the Wall Street Journal. “But increasingly it is not essential … It’s not unusual to find second- and third-generation Latinos who don’t speak Spanish because they grew up in a completely integrated society.”

See the 2016 Candidates Looking Very Presidential

Values Voters Summit
Sen. Ted Cruz is surrounded by stars and stripes at the 2014 Values Voter Summit in Washington, D.C. on September 26, 2014. Mark Peterson—Redux
USA - Hillary Clinton speaks at Iowa Senator Tom Harken'a annual Steak Fry
Hillary Clinton Hillary Clinton gazes pensively into the distance at Iowa Senator Tom Harken'a annual Steak Fry in Indianola, Iowa on September 14, 2014.Brooks Kraft—Corbis for TIME
Jeb Bush
Jeb Bush Former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush flashes a power watch before giving his keynote address at the National Summit on Education Reform in Washington on Nov. 20, 2014. Susan Walsh—AP
Sen. Bernie Sanders Launches Presidential Bid In Vermont
Bernie Sanders waves to supporters after officially announcing his candidacy for the U.S. presidency during an event at Waterfront Park in Burlington, Vermont, on May 26, 2015.Win McNamee—Getty Images
Political Theatre
Chris Christie New Jersey Governor Chris Christie strikes a presidential power stance at the ceremony for the opening of the 206 bypass in Hillsborough, New Jersey on October 28, 2013.Mark Peterson—Redux
Former Hewlett-Packard Co Chief Executive Officer Carly Fiorina listens to her introduction from the side of the stage at the Freedom Summit in Des Moines, Iowa on Jan. 24, 2015.
Former Hewlett-Packard Co Chief Executive Officer Carly Fiorina listens to her introduction from the side of the stage at the Freedom Summit in Des Moines, Iowa on Jan. 24, 2015. Jim Young—Reuters
Georgia Senate Candidate David Perdue Campaigns With Sen. Rand Paul (R-KY)
Rand Paul Sen. Rand Paul works a crowd during a campaign stop on October 24, 2014 in McDonough, Georgia. Jessica McGowan—Getty Images
Rick Perry
Rick Perry Texas Gov. Rick Perry looks powerfully patriotic during the National Anthem before an NCAA college football game on Nov. 27, 2014, in College Station, Texas.David J. Phillip—AP
Bobby Jindal
Bobby Jindal Louisiana Gov. Bobby Jindal looks to the future during The Family Leadership Summit on Aug. 9, 2014, in Ames, Iowa. Charlie Neibergall—AP
Martin O'Malley
Martin O'Malley Maryland Governor Martin OíMalley ponders decorating ideas in front of his possible future home on CBS's Face the Nation on Feb. 23, 2014. Chris Usher—AP
Marco Rubio
Marco Rubio Sen. Marco Rubio looks determined the morning after the State of the Union address in Washington, D.C. on January 29, 2014.Melissa Golden—Redux
Ben Carson
Ben CarsonBen Carson at the Conservative Political Action Committee annual conference on March 8, 2014. Susan Walsh—AP
Barack Obama, Jim Webb
Jim Webb Retiring Sen. Jim Webb imitates the presidential wave during a rally in Virginia Beach, Va. on Sept. 27, 2012.Steve Helber—AP
John Kasich, Election
John Kasich Ohio Gov. John Kasich practices his presidential victory pose at the Ohio Republican Party celebration on Tuesday, Nov. 4, 2014, in Columbus, Ohio. Tony Dejak—AP
Conservative Political Action Conference
Rick Santorum Former Pennsylvania Senator Rick Santorum looks resolute at CPAC, the Conservative Political Action Conference on March 7, 2014. Brooks Kraft—Corbis
Scott Walker
Scott Walker Wisconsin Republican Gov. Scott Walker practices the presidential point on March 3, 2014 in Milwaukee. Jeffrey Phelps—AP
Mike Huckabee
Mike Huckabee Former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee fine-tunes his presidential oratory at the Conservative Political Action Committee annual conference in National Harbor, Md. on March 7, 2014. Susan Walsh—AP
Former Rhode Island Governor Chafee poses for a selfie with a student after announcing he will seek the Democratic nomination to be U.S. president during an address to the GMU School of Policy, Government, and International Affairs in Arlington
Lincoln Chafee, Former Rhode Island Governor, poses for a selfie with a student after announcing he will seek the Democratic nomination for president in Arlington, Va. on June 3, 2015. Jonathan Ernst—Reuters
FILE: Lindsey Graham To Run For President
Lindsey Graham Lindsey Graham announced his plans to join the 2016 presidential race.Alex Wong—Getty Images
Former New York governor George Pataki listens to a question at the First in the Nation Republican Leadership Conference in Nashua, New Hampshire, in this April 17, 2015 file photo. Pataki on May 28, 2015 entered the race for the 2016 Republican presidential nomination, joining a crowded field of candidates vying to retake the White House for their party. REUTERS/Brian Snyder/Files
George Pataki Former New York governor George Pataki listens to a question at the First in the Nation Republican Leadership Conference in Nashua, New Hampshire, in this April 17, 2015 file photo.Brian Snyder—Reuters

Cruz has even argued that Latinos should not learn Spanish, opposing bilingual education for recent immigrants and urging Spanish speakers to learn English, using sometimes controversial language.

“When my father came over here penniless with $100 sewn into his underwear, thank God some well-meaning liberal didn’t come put his arm around him and say, ‘Let me take care of you. Let me put you on the government dole [and] rob you of your self respect,” he said in 2012. “And by the way, don’t bother to learn English. Let me keep you in a language ghetto.”

Still, it will take more than Spanish ads to win over Latino voters. Two of the policy positions Cruz doesn’t mention in his YouTube ad — his opposition to immigration reform and his plans to repeal the Affordable Care Act — are unpopular in the Hispanic community. (Polling by the Pew Research Center shows two-thirds of Hispanic voters back immigration reform, while 47 percent approve of Obamacare, tied with its disapproval rate but six percentage points above the public overall.)

More Must-Reads From TIME

Write to Tessa Berenson at tessa.Rogers@time.com