The thing is, while this represents a shift from 2013, it has been Cruz’s position since 2014. Cruz’s campaign confirmed to me that he still would slash the mandate every year–so that by the end of his first term, mandated levels would be only 1/5th of what they would otherwise be–meaning the mandated levels would drop each year instead of rising each year.

So it was misleading for ARF–and for me–to represent Cruz’s comments in Cherokee as a flip-flop.

Unlike other Republican candidates, Cruz wouldn’t leave the RFS alone until 2022 (notably, that’s in the theoretical second term of the next president), but he would cut it each year of his presidency.