Senator Ted Cruz defends his father's comparison of Barack Obama to Fidel Castro

Republican Sen. Ted Cruz of Texas on Saturday defended his father for comparing President Barack Obama to former Cuban leader Fidel Castro.

His father, Rafael, said last year that Obama was "just like" Castro. He claimed his experience with the revolution in Cuba made it easy for him to spot socialist tyranny.

"I remember during that time, a young, charismatic leader rose up, talking about 'hope' and 'change.' His name was Fidel Castro," his father said.

"Now after my father's speech, I put a portion of it on my Facebook page and a left-leaning journalist -- although I repeat myself -- wrote a blog posting blasting me, saying, 'This is a bit over-the-top, comparing Barack Obama to Fidel Castro,'" Cruz remarked at an event in Allen, Texas.

"And one night, about 1:30 in the morning, I was sitting there on the computer and I'm reading the comments, I guess I had nothing better to do, but I'm reading the comments, and it is all of these left-leaning folks who are just hysterical. 'This is unbelievable! How dare you compare Obama to Castro! I can't believe it!' And on and on."

"And I did something I have never done before or since, which is I signed up online, used my own name, and said, 'You know, I have been reading all of these comments hyperventilating about my dad's speech and I want to make just one simple point, if you look at what my father said, he never once mentioned the words Barack Obama. He simply described what Fidel Castro did in Cuba. Now what does it say about you that you hear what Castro did and immediately think that has got to be Obama?'"

Cruz also defended his father's comments last month, accusing Obama of being "dictatorial" like Castro.

Watch video, uploaded to YouTube by Michael Openshaw, below.

[Image via Gage Skidmore, Creative Commons licensed]