Ted Cruz Says Not Having 'Bathroom Bill' Is 'Opening the Door for Predators'

— -- Ted Cruz held firm today in his support of the North Carolina's bathroom bill, saying not having such laws was "opening the door for predators."

The Republican presidential candidate has steadfastly supported the law, which says people must use public restrooms designated for the sex on their birth certificate, not the gender they may identify as. The law has been called discriminatory against transgender people, and has resulted in criticism and boycotts of the state.

"There is no greater evil than predators and if the law says that any man, if he chooses can enter a women's restroom, a little girl's restroom and stay there and he cannot be removed because he simply says at that moment he feels like a woman, you're opening the door for predators," Cruz said.

Earlier this week, Cruz's campaign released a video about the controversy that asked, "Should a grown man pretending to be a woman be allowed to use the women's restroom, the same restroom used by your daughter, your wife?"

When asked today whether he believes transgender people are pretending, Cruz said: "The media says the most pressing issue in the world is whether a man dressed as a woman can enter a women's restroom. When I think of the great pressing challenges of the day that does not rise high to the list."

Cruz added, however, that he believes people have a right to live as they wish.

"If any one of us wants to dress up as a woman or a man wants to live as a woman or man believes that we might be something other than what we were born, you know God has made each of us with free will and the ability to choose to do that. If a man wants to dress as a woman and live as a woman and to have a bathroom at home," Cruz said. "You don’t have a right to intrude upon the rights of others. Because whether or not a man believes he's a woman, there are a lot of women who would like to be able to use a public restroom in peace without having a man there and when there are children involved, you don’t have a right to impose your lifestyle on others."

He said having a unisex bathroom "is fine. But a women’s restroom should not be used to drive a political point by the PC police."

Cruz has been using the issue of the North Carolina bathroom bill to contrast himself with Donald Trump, who is opposed to the law.

"And you know the most interesting thing about Donald Trump embracing the PC police is it shows who he really is. It shows that Donald Trump is a creature of the elite New York liberals," Cruz said to reporters in Indiana on Saturday.

Cruz says it is proof that Trump puts political correctness before conservatism, something Trump has denied.