Ted Cruz's campaign promises a merciless action against the terrorist group, Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant, or ISIL.

"We will utterly destroy ISIS," he said of the terrorists in the Middle East on Saturday, as quoted by Politico. "We will carpet-bomb them into oblivion. I don't know if sand can glow in the dark, but we're going to find out!"

In front of an audience of 1,500 in Cedar Rapids, Iowa for an event hosted by the conservative group FreedomWorks, Cruz also criticized Barack Obama's administration, the editorial board of the New York Times, and Democratic candidates for discussing increased gun controls instead of terrorism after last week's mass shooting in San Bernardino, California, Politico listed.

"The left's immediate reaction to radical Islamic terrorists, like kittens with their eyes closed, is not to go after the bad guys, but to immediately try to seize the guns of law-abiding citizens," the Texas senator said, as quoted by the news outlet.

He continued, "Let me tell the editors of the Times something: you don't stop the bad guys by taking away our guns. You stop the bad guys by using our guns."

Cruz also slammed the New York Daily News for its front-page cover after the shooting. The paper's image proclaimed the words, "God isn't fixing this," along with ridiculing photos of tweets from Republicans offering their thoughts and prayers to the victims.

"Let me tell the Democrats, let me tell the mainstream media-although I repeat myself-there has never been a time in the history of this country when we needed prayer more," the Republican presidential candidate further stated, as reported by Politico.

Cruz criticized the media for focusing on stricter gun control following the shootings in San Bernardino. As quoted by NBC News, he said, "Folks in the media ask on behalf of Democrats, 'isn't it insensitive to do a Second Amendment rally after the shooting.' I really don't view our job as being sensitive to Islamic terrorists."

When asked about the precise actions he would take to avoid other American citizens from repeating the San Bernardino attacks, Cruz deviated to the United States' mission overseas to combat ISIL. He said an attack like the recent shootings "is directly connected" to Islamic terrorism across the world, NBC News reported.

In a speech on Thursday at the Republican Jewish Coalition meeting in Washington, Cruz also said that the shooting is "yet another manifestation of terrorism, radical Islamic terrorism" in the U.S., the news outlet added.