Senator Ted Cruz’s speech at the Conservative Political Action Conference was widely ridiculed, as critics called the widespread talk ’embarrassing’.
Mr Cruz worked his way through numerous topics, including a joke about his trip to Cancun, while the millions of people in his home state of Texas faced major power outages during single-degree temperatures, and his complaints about the media making a ‘new’ galactic empire ‘. and the complaints about the use of masks during the pandemic a week after the US death toll was 500,000.
Critics see the speech as the attempt of Mr. Cruz to save face after being widely criticized for leaving Texas during a state-wide power disaster, and regards his rhetoric as his attempt to position himself as a bomber in the same vein as Representative Marjorie Taylor. Greene and Donald Trump Jr.
“Ted Cruz is only embarrassed to complete the GOP primary in 2024 behind Marjorie Taylor Greene,” a Twitter user said.
The senator began his speech by referring to the controversy in Texas, saying, “Orlando is wonderful. It’s not as nice as Cancun, but it’s nice.”
While talking about Texas, Mr. Cruz made a joke about people shooting protesters, and his comments come in the wake of a year of unrest stirred by continued police violence against Black Americans.
‘In Houston, where I live, I have to tell you that there were no rioters, because let’s be very clear if they were there, they would discover what the state of Texas thinks about the 2nd right to keep and carry guns, “Mr Cruz said.
He also calls masking during the pandemic that has already killed 500,000 Americans “a sign of virtue”.
“We are going to wear masks for the next 300 years,” he said. Cruz said. “And by the way, not just one mask – two, three, four – you can not have too many masks. How many virtues do you want to signify?”
Scott Dworkin, executive director of The Democrat Coalition, said Cruz sounded like he was disturbed.
‘Ted Cruz just screamed like a relentless madman at CPAC. So, normal, ”he wrote.
Mr Cruz complained about the media and ‘canceled culture’, accusing the Democrats of trying to turn 19-year-old skaters in Los Angeles into ‘socialists’.
The senator also expressed his support for Donald Trump, saying “Donald J Trump is going nowhere” and that Democrats were afraid he would not disappear.
“And they look at Donald J Trump and they look at the millions and millions of people who are inspired who fought with President Trump, and they are terrified and want him to leave,” he said.
Mr Cruz also minimized the experience of Rep Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez during the Capitol uprising, calling it ‘political theater’. Ms Ocasio-Cortez raised nearly $ 5 million to help Texas aid in the aftermath of the storm that Cruz fled.
He then said the media is desperate to call for a civil war in the Republican Party.
Mr. Cruz’s comments come days after Rep. Liz Cheney and House Republican minority leader Kevin McCarthy, both Republicans, publicly disagreed on whether it was appropriate for Trump to speak at CPAC.
Ms Cheney said she did not think Mr. Trump must continue to talk about whether he should have any influence on the Republican Party or the nation. She was one of ten Republicans in the House who voted to accuse Trump.
Later, Ms Greene held a press conference where she called Cheney a ‘fool’ and said that any Republican who spoke out against Trump was also a fool.
Mr Cruz concludes his speech by quoting a film, which he regularly does, and shouts ‘Freedom’ in a call from William Wallace from the film Braveheart.