Ted Cruz Condemns ‘Insurrection’ as Democratic Political Propaganda [Video]

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Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Texas) called out Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) for saying Jan. 6th was an insurrection, referring to the term as political propaganda. The mounting level of disconnect among Republican party members — the RNC and Congress — is evident in their intra-party disagreement over the violent attack of the U.S. Capitol.

“Legitimate political discourse” is the RNC’s official definition of its party members’ attempt to overturn the certified 2020 election results. Average Americans disagree: 72% “believe the people involved in the attack on the Capitol were “threatening democracy,” 25% did not. Forty-five percent of Republicans answering the poll feel the events of that day were a threat to American Democracy, according to an ABC/Ipsos poll taken Dec. 27-29, 2021. Like Senator Cruz, 52% of Republicans thought the opposite.

The poll’s results, like McConnell’s recent declaration, show a change in Republican attitudes about the “violent insurrection.” Last April, 70% thought the Capitol attack was mostly peaceful. The senator’s attitude toward Jan. 6th varied throughout the year. While he blamed former-President Donald Trump for instigating the riot, he fell short of acknowledging the darkness of that day. Whenever asked his thoughts, McConnell’s carefully measure responses appeared to reflect the current news cycle until earlier this week when he revealed his feelings:

We saw it happen. It was a violent insurrection for the purpose of trying to prevent the peaceful transfer of power after a legitimately certified election, from one administration to the next. That’s what it was.

Apparently, when Senator Cruz condemned the January 6, 2021 attack on the Capitol as a terrorist attack, his words were, as he told Fox’s Tucker Carlson, sloppy and dumb.

Now, 35 days later, Cruz says it is wrong for McConnell to use the Democrat and commercial media’s political propaganda. As with most of Cruz’s comments and actions, he flip-flops. These seem to confirm the opinion that he thrives on controversy. One example happened last winter, when fellow Texans — his constituents — were literally freezing to death when the state’s power system failed, the senator headed out to Cancun. Another is attacking “Sesame Street” and Big Bird for spreading propaganda about the drug’s safety and effectiveness when protesting COVID-19 vaccines.

Senator Cruz, whose term ends in January 2025, said he would “absolutely, in a heartbeat” consider taking a second run at the presidency, according to an interview with The Truth Gazette reports Politico. He explained that he is well-positioned to win in the 2024 election. Nonetheless, Cruz has only hinted at launching another bid for the White House. Since Trump continues to infer he is going to run, and the senator is a staunch supporter of the former president, Cruz may not commit one way or the other for some time.

Written by Cathy Milne-Ware

Sources:

AlterNet: ‘Pitiful’ Ted Cruz just created more problems for his Republican colleagues: columnist; by Matthew Chapman
Business Insider: Ted Cruz breaks with Mitch McConnell and says it’s a ‘mistake’ for Republicans to call January 6 an ‘insurrection;’ by Oma Seddiq
Independent: Ted Cruz reverses on Jan 6 opposition and says it wasn’t an insurrection after all; by Jade Bremmer
The News York Times: McConnell Denounces R.N.C. Censure of Jan. 6 Panel Members; by Jonathan Weisman and Annie Karni
ABC News: Majority of Americans think Jan. 6 attack threatened democracy: POLL; by Brittany Shepherd
Rawstory: Ted Cruz grovels on Fox News and says it was ‘dumb’ to call Capitol riots a terrorist attack; by Brad Reed

Featured and Top Image Courtesy of Gage Skidmore’s Flickr Page – Creative Commons License
Inset Image Courtesy of Tyler Merbler’s Flickr Page – Creative Commons License