The Daily Populous Tuesday January 19th, 2021 morning edition
Authored by newsweek.com and submitted by Karma-Kosmonaut

The El Paso Times became the latest Texas newspaper to call for Senator Ted Cruz (R-TX) to step down from the Senate at the weekend over his objections to the president election results, and his role in the "Stop the Steal" campaign.

Releasing an op-ed on Saturday, the newspaper's editorial board said Cruz had to be "held accountable" for his actions ahead of the Capitol riots on January 6, and argued that his contesting of the election contributed to an "insurrection" at the Capitol.

The Houston Chronicle and San Antonio Express-News delivered similarly strong verdicts on the senator in the wake of the Capitol riots earlier this month, with both calling for the Republican to leave the upper chamber.

In its op-ed published Saturday, the Times' editorial board said: "Cruz shouldn't have ignored those who believe the election was rigged. But to borrow from the title one of his books, now was 'A Time for Truth.' And Cruz knew the Stop the Steal campaign was a fraud.

"Cruz faced immediate calls for his resignation. He needs to resign, but we know he won't step down. Cruz still needs to be held accountable for his conduct."

After it called on law enforcement officials to "thoroughly explore" Sen. Cruz's alleged role in "inciting" the riots, the local newspaper added that it was "hard to argue against" the view that the Republican's conduct was "seditious."

The Houston Chronicle's editorial board took a similar tack on January 8 as it called for Cruz to "deliver Texas from the shame of calling you our senator" in the wake of the chaos at the Capitol.

Publishing its own op-ed a day later, the Express-News said the Texas Republican had to be "expelled" from the Senate, and held to account for his role in the undermining of the presidential election results.

A spokesperson for Ted Cruz referred Newsweek to remarks he made in an interview earlier this month. "No one should be surprised to see Democrats playing politics and to see them try to attack strong conservative leaders. That's something Democrats have done for a long time," the senator said. "I do think it's really cynical for them to be trying to take advantage of what was a tragic event that occurred yesterday in Washington – the terrorist attack on the Capitol."

Texas newspapers have not been the only ones to condemn Cruz's role in casting doubt over President-elect Joe Biden's victory on November 3 last year. The senator's 2016 campaign chair Chad Sweet called for his old friend to be "denounced" over his attempts to object to the results.

Releasing a statement on LinkedIn, he said: "Donald Trump and those who aided and abetted him in his relentless assault on our Democracy—including Senators Josh Hawley and Ted Cruz—must be denounced.

"In particular, I made it clear to Senator Cruz, whom I have known for years, before the Joint Session of Congress, that if he proceeded to object to the Electoral count of the legitimate slates of delegates certified by the States, I could no longer support him."

He added that Americans had to put their loyalty to any party or individual aside for the sake of U.S. democracy in the wake of the riots.

Update 01/18/21 10:32 a.m. ET: This article was updated with a statement provided by Cruz's office.

NerdAtSea on January 18th, 2021 at 21:02 UTC »

Ted cruz doesn't give a single fuck what anyone thinks if they aren't a donor.

PlatypusWrath on January 18th, 2021 at 20:57 UTC »

Easy: Just insult his father and wife and he'll do whatever you want him to.

Karma-Kosmonaut on January 18th, 2021 at 20:52 UTC »

> After it called on law enforcement officials to "thoroughly explore" Sen. Cruz's alleged role in "inciting" the riots, the local newspaper added that it was "hard to argue against" the view that the Republican's conduct was "seditious."