Why Did Ted Cruz Label Kelly Ayotte a 'Rock Star?'

Texas Sen. Ted Cruz praised fellow Sen. Kelly Ayotte, cracked wise about Canada and the IRS and took on President Obama during a speech in New Hampshire on Friday.

The potential 2016 GOP presidential contender was the keynote speaker at a New Hampshire Republican State Committee fundraiser in Dublin. He started his speech with high praise for Ayotte, who introduced him.

[Watch the entire speech here.]

"Kelly Ayotte is a rock star," he said. "Let me tell you, your senator is as tough as granite. There is no stronger advocate of the men and women in our military in the U.S. Senate than is Kelly Ayotte, and there is no one tougher going to get the truth about what happened in Benghazi than Kelly Ayotte."

At one point during his speech, Cruz joked, "I'm pretty sure that you can actually see Canada from here, so I appreciate y'all going above and beyond to welcome me," a reference to the recent controversy over the fact that he was born in Canada and has dual citizenship.

He also spoke about the need for tax reform, and joked that those in attendance for his speech were all going to be audited by the IRS.

Cruz saved his harshest words for Obamacare.

"There is bipartisan agreement now that Obamacare isn't working," he said, calling it "the single biggest job killer in this country." He promised to work to defund the health care law, but said it will take "a grassroots tsunami" to make it happen.