Ted Cruz Swaps Mic for Rolling Pin to Tour Matzo Bakery

— -- While campaigning in New York, Ted Cruz traded his mic for a rolling pin as he toured Chabad Neshama Center, a Jewish Community Center in Brooklyn, and made matzo bread from scratch at the center's Model Matzah Bakery.

Despite being a rookie matzo baker, the Texas senator was impressed with the final product, admitting, "fresh baked is better than the box,” as he took a bite.

At the Model Matzah Bakery, Cruz joined Rabbi Moishe and his wife, Leah Winner, and led the 15 or so children in making the matzo and singing “roll, roll, roll the matzo dough.”

Cruz asked the children their age, if they like matzo, and their favorite thing about Passover.

“I like the morar,” one boy said, referring the bitter herbs eaten during Passover. “Lots of holes,” a little girl interjected, fascinated by the holes in her dough.

“That is a lot of holes!” Cruz joked. “Holy matzo!”

As the children sang "Dayenu," a Passover song, Cruz clapped and sang along, repeating the word “Dayenu.”

The Texas senator, who is Christian and attends Houston’s First Baptist Church, told Rabbi Moishe he once had the privilege of joining a Holocaust survivor at the Seder table for Passover.

“He actually survived the Holocaust by being in a Gulag in Russia and he spent nine years in the Gulag,” Cruz shared.

When asked if he was interested in sporting a matzo hat as he rolled the dough, Cruz politely declined.

“I’m going to pass on the hat,” Cruz said. “It’s one of the basic rules of politics -- be careful with hats.” (He also turned down wearing a Wisconsin cheese head hat on Monday ahead of the primary there.)

Cruz has ramped up the amount of the time he’s spending in the Empire State ahead of its primary on April 19. Yesterday, Cruz held a meet-and-greet with voters at a Chinese-Latino restaurant in the Bronx.