Watch How Ted Cruz Handles Persistent Reporter's Attempts to Get Him to 'Attack' Donald Trump

Senator Ted Cruz (R-Texas) refused to attack his 2016 opponent Donald Trump on Friday, despite a reporter’s persistent attempts to spark a war of words.

“I’m a big fan of Donald Trump’s, but I’m not a fan of government registries of Americans citizens,” he said when asked about Trump’s remarks on the need for a Muslim-tracking database. “The First Amendment protects religious liberty, and I’ve spent the past several decades defending the religious liberty of every American.”

When a reporter then pressed him on whether he was concerned about Trump’s “messaging” as the frontrunner, Cruz shut down the line of questioning.

"Listen, I like Donald Trump. I recognize the media would love to get me and other candidates to attack Donald Trump," Cruz added. "There may be other candidates who want to do that — I ain’t going to do it. So, I’ll tell you my policy views, but I have no interest in attacking Donald Trump or, for that matter, attacking Ben Carson. Both are good men. And I’m not interested in throwing rocks at either one of them."

Watch the exchange via NBC below:

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