--- title: Ted Cruz Uses Jimmy Carter in Anti-Donald Trump Ad description: Ted Cruz uses the harsh words of a former president to slam Donald Trump in a new ad. canonical: https://time.com/4208280/ted-cruz-jimmy-carter-donald-trump-ad/ author: Tessa Berenson article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2016-02-04T18:43:23.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-02-22T14:46:50.585Z article:section: Politics og:title: Cruz Uses Jimmy Carter in Anti-Trump Ad og:description: "Trump has proven already that he's completely malleable." og:url: https://time.com/4208280/ted-cruz-jimmy-carter-donald-trump-ad/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt9b6fd00c761e2882/69887c2e2dce01415c9e7ab5/screen-shot-2016-02-04-at-1-25-58-pm.png?branch=production&width=1920&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 1200 og:image:height: 675 og:image:alt: screenshot from Ted Cruz anti-Trump ad og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: Cruz Uses Jimmy Carter in Anti-Trump Ad twitter:description: "Trump has proven already that he's completely malleable." twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt9b6fd00c761e2882/69887c2e2dce01415c9e7ab5/screen-shot-2016-02-04-at-1-25-58-pm.png?branch=production&width=1920&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # Cruz Uses Jimmy Carter in Anti-Trump Ad  by [Tessa Berenson](https://time.com/author/tessa-berenson/)  ## Tessa Berenson Feb 4, 2016 6:43 PM UTC  Screenshot from Ted Cruz anti-Trump ad. Screenshot from Ted Cruz anti-Trump ad.Youtube screenshot  by [Tessa Berenson](https://time.com/author/tessa-berenson/)  ## Tessa Berenson Feb 4, 2016 6:43 PM UTC Ted Cruz uses the harsh words of a former president to slam Donald Trump in a new ad. The ad uses a video clip of Democratic President Jimmy Carter telling the British Parliament Wednesday that he would rather have Trump win the White House than Cruz. “Trump has proven already that he’s completely malleable,” Carter says. “I don’t think he has any fixed opinions that he would really go to the White House and fight for.” The Texas Senator uses Carter’s final assessment of him, probably not meant as a compliment, as a badge of honor in the ad: “Ted Cruz is not malleable,” Carter says. “He has far right-wing policies, in my opinion, that would be pursued aggressively if and when he would become president.” Cruz and Trump, who [came in first and second in the Iowa caucuses](http://time.com/4203690/iowa-caucuses-ted-cruz/) respectively, are fighting for many of the same conservative voters in the Republican presidential primary. Cruz is trying to position himself as the most conservative candidate in the field and has recently cast doubt on Trump’s credentials. 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