As Ted Cruz Receives Backlash for Stance on Election Fraud, “Moderate” Republican Rhetoric Deserves Scrutiny

The Houston Chronicle called for Senator Ted Cruz’s resignation after the violent events that happened in DC last week. 

In a scathing piece with the subject line “Resign, Senator Cruz. Your lies cost lives”, the editorial board calls Cruz “brilliant” and responsible for inciting the MAGA mobs to riot and act with violence. 

“Cruz knew exactly what he was doing, what he was risking, and who he was inciting as he stood on the Senate floor Wednesday and passionately fed the farce of election fraud even as a seething crowd of believers was being whipped up by President Donald Trump a short distance away,” reads the piece.

The article does not miss the opportunity to call out Cruz for knowing the kind of man Trump was and still defending him. Cruz called Trump a “narcissist,” a “pathological liar” and “utterly amoral” in 2016, back when they were both seeking the Republican nomination.

“Resign, Mr. Cruz, and deliver Texas from the shame of calling you our senator,” the article states at the end. 

Adding to the fire, The Chronicle updated another article just yesterday, where Cruz, Ken Paxton, and other Texas officials are called “The shame of Texas”. The piece also criticizes Rep. Dan Crenshaw, calling him “disingenuous” for not acknowledging his role in this disaster by supporting Paxton’s unsuccessful lawsuit that aimed to overturn the election in four battleground states. The representative also signed a letter addressed to Attorney General Barr where he and 36 other republican representatives stated they were “concerned” about the Justice Department not doing enough to investigate the election fraud claims made by President Donald Trump and his attorneys.

While Crenshaw has been seen as a moderating voice in the past, “…it’s impossible to ignore Crenshaw’s star power and his potential to shape the future of the Republican Party around respect, ideas and principles.” Crenshaw has been a vocal defender of President Trump, he even went on national television to defend him after his comments after Charlottesville’s’ violent rallies in 2017. 

The representative has shown he likes being in the spotlight. He recently published an over-the-top YouTube video where he plays a congressman/James-Bond-like “hero” who is entrusted with the mission to “save” the Georgia elections. Militarizing politics is not new for Crenshaw and its important not to downplay the combative undertones not just from polemical figures like Cruz, but also from “moderate” Republicans.