Sen. Ted Cruz, at one point both a never-Trumper and an actual 2016 Republican primary opponent of Donald Trump, has been a nearly pure Trump loyalist ever since that year’s general election. This included January 6, when Cruz was among the senators who objected to certifying the 2020 electoral votes.
Cruz is now locked in a tight re-election fight against Democratic Rep. Colin Allred (D-TX), and Cruz’s behavior on January 6 came up during the candidates’ debate this week.
According to The Daily Beast, Allred used the debate to launch several one-liners at Cruz, which included everything from ripping what the incumbent Republican did on January 6 to what he called Cruz’s fearmongering about trans people in bathrooms.
Allred to Cruz: “You can’t be for the mob on January 6 and for the officers. You can’t. And it’s not funny. Because you’re a threat to democracy … I remember you objected to the results in Arizona.” pic.twitter.com/b7CHiE341A
— Aaron Rupar (@atrupar) October 16, 2024
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“You can’t be for the mob on January 6 and for the officers. You can’t. And it’s not funny. Because you’re a threat to democracy … I remember you objected to the results in Arizona.” Allred said of Cruz, including when the senator was noncommittal about whether he would support pardons for convicted January 6 rioters.
“When the lights went out in the energy capital of the world, he went to Cancún. On Jan. 6, when a mob was storming the Capitol, he was hiding a supply closet,” Allred said in the debate, per NBC News. “And when the toughest border security bill in a generation came up in the United States Senate, he took it down.”
He also referenced the woman who had to flee Texas to obtain an abortion for an unviable pregnancy after unsuccessfully suing the state.
“You should look into the camera and speak to Kate Cox, who’s watching right now, and explain to her why you said that this law that you said is perfectly reasonable—why she was forced to leave her two children behind and flee our state to get care that she needed,” Allred said in the debate.
Allred on Cruz: “He wants you thinking about kids in bathrooms so you’re not thinking about women in hospitals.” pic.twitter.com/IyFcySQju4
— Aaron Rupar (@atrupar) October 16, 2024
Allred also talked about how “he wants you thinking about kids in bathrooms so you’re not thinking about women in hospitals.”
The Texas Senate race, one of this cycle’s only opportunities for a Democratic Senate seat pickup, could determine control of the U.S. Senate.
Photo courtesy of the Political Tribune media library.
