Sen. Ted Cruz found out for the 450,156th time on Thursday that he will never be rewarded for being diet MAGA, and groveled for forgiveness from Fox News host Tucker Carlson for calling the Jan. 6 Capitol riot a “violent terrorist attack” one day earlier.
The Texas Republican drew fierce blowback from Carlson, who has called the Jan. 6 Capitol riot a “false flag” operation, and other far-right figures for saying on Wednesday that Jan. 6 marked the “an anniversary of a violent terrorist attack on the Capitol.”
“The way I phrased things yesterday, it was sloppy, and it was frankly dumb,” a shamefaced Cruz told Carlson Thursday night.
Carlson wasn’t having any of it, correctly pointing out that Cruz is about as disciplined in choosing his words as any politician in existence.
“You take words as seriously as any man who's ever served in the Senate. And every word you repeated—that phrase, I do not believe that you use that accidentally. I just don't,” Carlson shot back.
Cruz’s full self-flagellation shows how much the conservative movement has embraced efforts to downplay and dismiss the attacks on the Capitol, how firm a grip former President Donald Trump and his allies maintain over the GOP—and how little use they have for Republicans who split with Trump in any way.
Cruz tried to argue that he only meant the most violent rioters in the crowd who attacked police, not every one of the rioters, but Carlson wasn’t having any of it, insisting that even those people weren’t terrorists even though the Department of Justice has classified more than 150 of the cases they’re investigating as “domestic terrorism” and 45 defendants have already been charged with depredation of federal property, which is on the terrorism list.
Cruz’s mea culpa came after he spent a day getting hammered by figures from Trumpworld. Former Trump advisers Steve Bannon and Seb Gorka both blasted him for the remarks, and Carlson followed with a full segment ripping into Cruz:
This apology marks just the latest time that Cruz has tried to woo the pro-Trump MAGA base only to have them reject him as soon as he says anything they disagree with. Cruz played a key role in normalizing Trump during the 2016 presidential primary, inviting Trump to a rally and bear-hugging him for months as Trump continued his rise in the polls, with the hope that at some point Trump would fail and Cruz would be able to swoop in and win over Trump’s supporters.
Cruz’s reward was getting torn apart by Trump at the end of the primary, with Trump mocking his wife’s appearance, nicknaming him “Lyin’ Ted,” and claiming his dad assassinated President John F. Kennedy. Cruz was booed at the Republican National Convention for refusing to support Trump during his 2016 speech—then shamefacedly circled back to endorse Trump anyways later that summer after being scolded by his biggest donors.
The Texas senator became a loyal Trump lapdog through most of his presidency, and led the efforts to block Joe Biden’s election certification on Jan. 6 in the Senate in an effort to further burnish his reputation with the MAGA base. But the recent right-wing freakout over Cruz’s relatively tepid comments shows exactly how little real goodwill Cruz has with Trump’s hardcore base—and how little tolerance they have for any form of dissent.
“The establishment will never love you,” Florida MAGA GOP Rep. Matt Gaetz said when asked about Cruz’s comments on Thursday. “You can bend over bended knee for them, but they're just not going to love you. I think that was maybe an effort by the good senator… to recast himself in the eyes of some of the folks in your profession, but we didn't find it particularly factual or sincere.”
KingEllis on January 7th, 2022 at 16:45 UTC »
I made it to the :57 second mark. How can people watch this bile?
gdshaffe on January 7th, 2022 at 16:36 UTC »
It's funny to me how the far right media bubble essentially has all of the traits that the far right accuses the "Deep State" of having. A shadow power to whom the politicians are beholden, with their own rules, their own agenda, zero morality, and essentially unlimited money. Ted Cruz - a Senior US Senator - shouldn't give a fuck what some pundit thinks of him. He should have the power in that situation; he should measure his actions and words for their own sake, not because a TV personality was offended by him.
But that's not how it works. Fox News has all the power and Cruz knows it.
I'll never forget that Trump, when president, used to call into Fox & Friends directly, and of course they'd always put him on the air. One time, when the hosts realized he was making an ass out of himself even by his standards, they actually pulled the plug on the interview rather than let him continue talking crazy.
Think about that. It's unheard of for a journalist to end a conversation with the President of the United States, which is literally the biggest "get" in all of journalism. But of course Fox News isn't really journalism, it's propaganda, and because they have a vested interest in making their side look good, they routinely wag the dog and make use of their authority over their puppet politicians.
brasswirebrush on January 7th, 2022 at 16:26 UTC »
Ted Cruz: - Doesn't defend his wife when insulted. - Doesn't defend smears against his father. - Blames his kids for his Cancun vacation while his constituents were freezing to death. - Begs for forgiveness after telling the truth for once, allowing himself to be humiliated by Tucker Carlson.
It would be tough to find a lower form of life.