Republican presidential hopeful Ted Cruz made a stop in Nashville, only days before Christmas.
Cruz was added as a speaker at Rocketown, located on 4th Avenue. The event began at 1:30 p.m. Tuesday.
Volunteers ready Rocketown in Nashville for the arrival of Presidential candidate @tedcruz this afternoon. pic.twitter.com/1EJC89qrPw
— Chris Cannon (@NC5_ChrisCannon) December 22, 2015
Nearly a thousand people came out to hear what the candidate had to say. Many people in the crowd came out to learn more about Cruz.
"We don't know exactly who we're going to vote for yet, but we will be voting Republican. So we came out to hear, see, what Ted Cruz had to say, and see if he might be the man we support in the fall," said Bryan Jones, who traveled to the rally from Winchester.
Jenny Peach bought a Crux t-shirt outside of the rally. She wanted everyone to see who she will be voting for next year.
"I am huge supporter of Ted Crux," Peach said. "He does what he says, when he says he's going to do it and that's why I like him."
Cruz's father, Reverend Rafael Cruz, briefly spoke before introducing him to the stage.
He spoke for a little more than 30 minutes and had the crowd on its feet the entire time. The candidate hammered on Hillary Clinton, and President Obama.
The candidate also outlined what he would do if elected President. He told the crowd he would repeal Obamacare, take away funding for Planned Parenthood, and eliminate the threat of ISIS.
Cruz was traveling to all the states that vote in the Super Tuesday primary in March. He made stops in Tennessee, Cruz started the day in Knoxville.
"I believe the State of Tennessee is critical in the Republican primary this year," the conservative candidate tole members of the media after the rally.
In several national polls Cruz was just a few points away from front-runner Donald Trump, who recently said it may be a two-man race for the Republilcan nomination.
"We are surging in the polls, and Donald may be right, that this is turning into a two man race between Donald Trump and me," Cruz said.
Toward the end of his speech, the crowd raised their hands toward the stage to pray for the candidate.
While in Knoxville, supporters provided a cake and sang to him in honor of his 45th birthday.
Cruz's next stop was North Little Rock, Arkansas and Oklahoma.
At his first stop on Tuesday, Cruz drew excited applause for voicing support for allowing service members to be armed at military installations and recruiting centers.
Cruz said "A similar event to last summer's Chattanooga shooting that left four Marines and a sailor dead would now be met with "the business-end of firearms."
Tennessee is among the Super Tuesday states holding primaries on March 1.
From Nashville, Cruz will head to Little Rock, Arkansas, and wrap up his Christmas tour in Oklahoma City Wednesday.
