Trump and Cruz Fight Against the ICANN Transfer
After a jawing dropping speech in Cleveland this past July, which ended without an endorsement and more jeers than cheers, there may be hope for the Trump/Cruz divide, after all. In a twist of events this week, Trump and Cruz have found themselves fighting alongside each other for the same cause, to preserve the freedom of the Internet. The transfer of oversight of the nonprofit Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers, or ICANN, was proposed publicly in March 2014 and is set to move forward on September 30th, unless Congress blocks the move.
As the September 30th deadline looms for the U.S. to relinquish oversight of the California-based ICANN, Republican Senator Ted Cruz is leading the charge to stop the impending transfer of control and GOP presidential hopeful Donald Trump is standing with Ted in his 11th hour crusade to protect the Internet from censorship.
On Wednesday, Donald Trump’s campaign released a statement thanking the Republicans in Congress for admirably leading a fight to save the Internet. While the statement did not mention Ted Cruz by name, the Texas senator took to Twitter and thanked Trump for his support to keep the Internet free. Trump’s campaign echoed the sentiment and Cruz’s nod to Trump in 140 characters or less is the closest Republicans will see to an endorsement of Trump’s candidacy by Cruz. However, after a tumultuous primary and those uncomfortable 23 minutes in Cleveland, this exchange should be filed under, impressive.
While Ted Cruz continues to press on in D.C. to ensure Congress blocks the Internet transition ahead of the September 30th deadline, Trump’s campaign is calling attention to and taking aim at Democrats for not protecting the American people, by allowing the government to turn over governance to the global non-profit ICANN. The congruence in agendas between Cruz and Trump shows a consistency in the Republican Party as we move into the final month of the 2016 election cycle, but should not be construed as an indication that Cruz is hopping on the Trump train.
Looking ahead into the last month of the 2016 campaign season, Trump will double down on his Make America Great Again (MAGA) messaging, while taking shots at the Obama administration and the Clinton campaign. Meanwhile, Cruz and other Republican Congressional leaders will have their hands full as they try to delay the transition by vote ahead of the September 30th deadline in order to keep much of the government from shutting down.
At the end of the day, the goal of keeping control of both houses and winning the White House back is paramount for Republicans on November 8th. According to my Magic 8 Ball, the outlook is good as long as the GOP can keep their approval ratings from tanking in Congress and the Donald uses the conversation about the true dangers of America handing off Internet oversight to a global authority to court and mobilize displaced Cruz supporters ahead of Election Day. In summary, the synergy that lies between Cruz and Trump over the ICANN issue should not be ignored, but, instead, leveraged by both camps to push their agenda forward, because working together within party lines always fares better than working against one another, especially during an election year.
Originally written for and published on Political Storm.