Donald Trump and Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Texas) are jointly hosting a rally on Capitol Hill on Sept. 9 to protest the nuclear deal with Iran.
The event, being organized by Tea Party Patriots, the Center for Security Policy and the Zionist Organization of America, will be staged on the West Lawn of the Capitol, the groups said in a statement.
Cruz, the keynote speaker, invited Trump to speak, the statement said.
The joint event underscores the strengthening ties between the two Republicans.
Trump, the clear front-runner in the GOP presidential primary, has refrained from launching his harshest barbs at Cruz, who is also running for president, and the Texas senator has likewise declined to join in the attacks against Trump that have become common among many of their Republican rivals. Instead, Cruz has said he is “grateful” for Trump’s focus on immigration despite the controversial nature of his comments.
Like many Republicans, both candidates have blasted the Obama administration over the nuclear deal with Iran, which would set limits on the country's ability to build a nuclear weapon in exchange for lifting sanctions on its oil and financial sectors.
“Ultimately, they’re going to have nukes all over the place,” he added.
Cruz, meanwhile, has called the deal “catastrophic” and “disastrous.”
Their rally will likely occur ahead of a congressional vote on the deal in mid-September, after two frenzied months of lobbying over the agreement.
Though majorities in both chambers are expected to vote to kill the deal, it remains unclear whether Senate lawmakers will be able to overcome a Democratic-led filibuster of the legislation. It’s also unlikely that opponents of the deal would be able to override a veto of the bill from President Obama.
Congress will return from its monthlong recess on Tuesday, Sept. 8.
Tea Party Patriots CEO and co-founder Jenny Beth Martin said the group organized protests at 185 different local congressional offices across the country recently.
"This ‘deal’ does not prevent Iran from getting nuclear weapons; it virtually guarantees it," she said in a statement. "Congress must reject this terrible deal."
