Republicans are having a little trouble getting on the same page about the January 6 MAGA rioters.
While some in the GOP called them tourists and others said they were merely protesters, the majority of Americans do not look upon their insurrectionist actions favorably.
Their act of "tourism" resulted in multiple deaths, over a hundred injuries and millions of dollars in damages.
It shouldn't have been surprising when a Senator rightfully referred to those involved as terrorists as their violent actions were an act of domestic terrorism.
Except that Senator was Texas Republican Ted Cruz—who was a vocal supporter of former Republican President Donald Trump even after Trump called Cruz’s wife unattractive and accused his father of participating in the assassination of President John F. Kennedy.
So it was far less surprising when Cruz again lost his spine and recanted his words shortly after at the urging of Trump sycophant and Fox News host Tucker Carlson.
All of this was later discussed on CNN, as seen in the video below.
Canadian born Cruz—a 2016 GOP candidate for President—has a long history of seemingly spineless acts, including prostrating himself to remain in Trump’s good graces and trying to abandon his state during a killer winter storm.
But during a Senate hearing, Cruz called the January 6 Capitol riot a “violent terrorist attack."
Fox News' Carlson—who regularly is cited for spouting White nationalist propaganda—didn’t appreciate Cruz’s comments. So Cruz, of course did the manly thing.
He immediately apologized and begged for forgiveness from Carlson.
His performance on Carlson’s show may have been a new low point for the Texas Republican. It was compared unfavorably to a Game of Thrones character.
CNN’s co-anchor John Berman said:
“I thought he handled it better in ‘Game of Thrones’ when he was Theon Greyjoy to Ramsay Bolton there. Honestly, that was like Reek.”
The character referenced was literally made a eunuch on the HBO series.
Carlson’s interview kept Cruz on the back foot. He negged Cruz over the Senator’s use of the phrase “terrorist attack” during a Senate hearing.
Carlson said:
“There are a lot of dumb people in Congress. You are not one of them. Smarter than I am. And you never use words carelessly.”
“And yet you call this a terror attack when by no definition was it a terror attack. That was a lie. You told that lie on purpose and I’m wondering why you did.”
Cruz tried to explain it away by saying his choice of words was “sloppy and frankly dumb.”
But Carlson went for the throat:
“You repeated that phrase, I do not believe that you used that accidentally. I just don’t!”
The interview continued with Carlson continuously attacking Cruz’s word choice for several minutes. The whole time, Cruz just apologized and kept trying to explain himself.
This is a dark reminder of the power Carlson and Fox News holds over the Republican party.
Cruz’s dedication to remaining in Carlson’s good graces was almost too painful to watch. The performance made many uncomfortable.
But few are more uncomfortable than Cruz’s own family, who say they are embarrassed to be associated with him.
