Democrats – Ted Cruz Responsible for Assault on Capitol Hill

Ted Cruz accused of abetting sedition and inspiring pro-Trump
riot by resisting Biden’s victory
Democrats say Texan helped inspire the mob in his ardor to curry
favor ahead of a 2024 run.
Sen. Ted Cruz and Sen. Josh Hawley, R-Mo., walk from the House
Chamber following a Senate procession carrying boxes holding
Electoral College votes to the House Chamber for a joint session to
confirm the Electoral College votes Jan. 6, 2021.
Sen. Ted Cruz and Sen. Josh Hawley, R-Mo., walk from the House
Chamber following a Senate procession carrying boxes holding
Electoral College votes to the House Chamber for a joint session to
confirm the Electoral College votes Jan. 6, 2021.(Manuel Balce
Ceneta)

WASHINGTON – Although it was clear that President Donald Trump
inspired the insurrection at the Capitol on Wednesday, Democrats
pinned some of the blame on Sen. Ted Cruz, too, accusing him of
promoting sedition and lawlessness by promoting Trump’s lies about
election fraud.

Cruz had been careful not to directly echo any of Trump’s more
fanciful and baseless claims about ballot manipulation and
cheating.

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Trump protesters protest outside Texas Capitol

Trump protesters protest outside the Texas State Capitol on
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But he did emerge as one of the two most ardent Senate advocates
for blocking Congress from affirming President-elect Joe Biden’s
Electoral College victory on Wednesday, demanding a 10-day
delay.

“It is your self-serving attempt at sedition that has helped to
inspire these terrorists and their attempted coup,” alleged Beto
O’Rourke, the El Paso Democrat who came close to ousting Cruz in
2018.

His tweet came in response to Cruz condemning violence after the
mob had overrun Congress, halting debates in the House and Senate
triggered by his own objection to Biden’s victory in Arizona.

Four hours after the vandalism began, and with lawmakers still
hunkered down for security, Cruz ignored questions about whether
the violence prompted him to reconsider his objections and tactics.
Aides offered no insight into how he would proceed when the Senate
and House resumed deliberations Wednesday night at 7 p.m. Texas
time.

He did push back against O’Rourke after Capitol Police evacuated
lawmakers, even as pro-Trump rioters occupied Speaker Nancy
Pelosi’s office and camped outside on marble steps and balconies
off limits to the public.

“Stop stoking division. Stop spreading hatred. Stop using
malicious rhetoric (such as false & reckless charges of
`sedition’). Stop showing contempt for the half of the country that
disagrees with you,” Cruz responded to his erstwhile rival.
“Violence is wrong. We can do better. We are one Nation.
#EPluribusUnum.”

That particular choice of retort was noteworthy, because on
Election Night 2018 when Cruz eked out a second term with less than
51% against O’Rourke, he offered a message of humility and
conciliation that Texans had not heard during his campaign or,
really, during his first term: “I am your senator as well.”

Matthew Eshbaugh-Soha, chair of the University of North Texas
political science department, likened Cruz’s short-lived vow to
tone down the partisanship to a kid who gets in trouble “but the
punishment isn’t as bad as you thought.”

“It was a close call,” he said. “You’re like, I’ll never do this
again. …And then two weeks later you’re doing the same thing.”

Cruz led a group of 11 senators demanding an emergency
investigation, though in two months since Election Day no evidence
of widespread fraud has surfaced.

“I am not arguing for setting aside the result of this
election,” he insisted after objecting to the Arizona electors,
maintaining that procedurally, he had no other way to focus
Congress’ attention on the idea of an investigation aimed at
bolstering public trust in the outcome.

After rioters stormed the Capitol, he called for
prosecutions.

“In no way would Sen. Cruz ever condone this,” said Cruz
spokeswoman Lauren Bianchi.

Julián Castro, the former Obama housing secretary and
San Antonio mayor, said Cruz “has embarrassed Texas and the entire
nation” and like Trump, “he would watch democracy burn if he got to
rule the ashes.”

He and his brother, Rep. Joaquin Castro, D-San Antonio, called
on Cruz to resign, as did many other Texas Democrats.

Washington Post columnist Jennifer Rubin, a conservative and
staunch Trump critic, suggested the Senate expel Cruz — and
Missouri Sen. Josh Hawley, the first senator to announce he would
object to certification of Biden’s electoral win.

“With 50 D’s you’d only need 16 R’s to expel Cruz. THAT
shouldn’t be hard,” she tweeted, alluding to Cruz’s reputation for
having few friends after eight years punctuated by grandstanding,
defiance of GOP leadership and relentless partisanship.

Cruz’s crusade to help forestall final defeat for Trump was
widely seen as a way to curry favor with the president and his base
ahead of a 2024 run for president.

Conservatives in Congress applauded when he stood up in the
House chamber at the outset of Wednesday’s joint session and
declared his objection on the Arizona electors.

Across the aisle, he has been a hated figure. And the
extraordinary events inspired even more shrill attacks than
usual.

The Texas Democratic Party called on the Justice Department to
investigate Cruz for inciting sedition and treason, and party
spokesman Abhi Rahman taunted that the riot had a silver lining:
“@tedcruz’s presidential ambitions are dead in the water.”

“Ted Cruz led a charge of the ‘Sedition Caucus,’ which ignited
the people who stormed the U.S. Capitol and brought gunshots and
violence,” said Ed Espinoza, executive director at Progress Texas.
“Cruz’s act of political theater has brought domestic terrorism to
our nation’s Capitol.”

A number of Texas Democrats blamed Cruz for inciting the
lawlessness, along with Trump.

“You fan the flames and then condemn the growing fire?” tweeted
state Rep. Joe Moody, an El Paso Democrat who served as pro tempore
of the Texas House. Aiming his comments at Cruz, he wrote, “You are
an embarrassment to Texas and should be ashamed of yourself.”

State Rep. James Talarico, D-Round Rock, went further, tweeting
at Cruz: “You sacrificed your country for your ambition. You’re not
a senator, you’re a traitor.”

The Boot Texas Republicans PAC, formed to oppose Gov. Greg
Abbott and Attorney General Ken Paxton, likewise blamed Cruz and
called on him to resign.

“Ted Cruz incited the riot we saw today,” said spokesman Zack
Malitz. “Cruz told the country that the election was stolen. Cruz
undermined public faith in the election by suggesting that there is
a conspiracy to overturn the will of the people.”

Staff writer Lauren McGaughy contributed to this report from
Austin.

The Nigeria Centre for Disease Control (NCDC) has recorded 1,664
new cases of COVID-19, bringing the total number of infections in
the country to 94,369.

The NCDC disclosed this on its official Twitter handle on
Wednesday.

“1664 new cases of #COVID19Nigeria; Lagos-642 FCT-407
Plateau-160 Kaduna-83 Rivers-62 Adamawa-47 Nasarawa-38 Abia-29
Edo-28 Anambra-27 Niger-24 Ogun-24 Imo-15 Oyo-14 Kano-12 Osun-12
Borno-9 Delta-7 Enugu-7 Bauchi-5 Ekiti-5 Sokoto-5 Jigawa-2.” the
NCDC said.