All posts tagged "ted cruz"

Ted Cruz blasts rising Dem star as 'crazy' as she eyes Senate seat after GOP redistricting

WASHINGTON — A longtime Texas Republican senator Thursday called a rising Democratic star and a prominent critic of President Donald Trump eyeing a Senate seat "crazy."

Sen. Ted Cruz (R-TX) was asked about Rep. Jasmine Crockett (D-TX), who said this week she is "strongly" considering a run for Senate and has drawn attention in initial polls to potentially challenge Sen. John Cornyn (R-TX), whose term ends in January 2027.

"Well, the polling I've seen shows her leading the Democrat primary," Cruz said. "I think sadly, today's Democrat(ic) Party, has no shortage on crazy."

If she joins the race, Crockett is likely to face off against several Democrats, including former U.S. Rep. Colin Allred, who lost in 2024 to Cruz and has built a following across the state, Politico reports.

Another opponent would be state Rep. James Talarico, who announced he would join the race in September, and astronaut Terry Virts, according to Newsweek.

The potential move follows Texas Republicans' redistricting of her House seat to make it more competitive for Republican candidates — something she referred to as karmic — in an interview Wednesday on SiriusXM’s The Lurie Daniel Favors Show.

"If you want to take my seat of 766,000 away, I feel like there has to be some karma in that to where I take your seat that is for 30 million away. So we are, you know, the primary is the primary. That's cool, but you got to win the general. So we are doing some testing here shortly to see if I can expand the electorate," Crockett said.

"The question will be whether or not we believe that we've got enough juice to expand the electorate and looking at those cross tabs and looking at which demographics are more inclined to come out, who normally do not vote. If we can expand the electorate, then I will strongly be considering hopping in the Senate race,” Crockett said.

Rep. Al Green (D-TX) told Raw Story that if she runs, Crockett could mobilize voters.

"I think she can," Green said. "I think the state is changing. I think we're having young people register to vote. She appeals to young people. I think she can bring out those young people and I do think that people are concerned about the future of our state.

“When we have the Guadalupe River taking these many lives and the state did not take actions … then you've got the president who has cut FEMA. These things are things of concerns. So I think there's some issues that she can raise that would appeal to the very young as well as the very conservative."

Crockett's potential campaign could help target a particular group, he explained.

"She will bring out new voters. I'm talking about new voters who are young and voting for the first time, but new voters who have been out of the system for some time but are eligible to vote," Green added.

Sen. Joaquin Castro (D-TX) described Crockett as "tireless" in her work supporting Democrats and her constituents in an interview with Raw Story.

"She's provided a real spark and a charismatic voice to get our message across for Democrats," Castro said.

'Stop attacking pedophiles!' Ted Cruz appears to make awkward gaffe during Senate hearing

Sen. Ted Cruz (R-TX) made an apparent blunder on camera Tuesday when he said Republicans and Democrats should come together and "stop attacking pedophiles."

Cruz was speaking at a Senate hearing on Trump administration actions to address crime when he attempted to convey how bipartisan efforts in Congress should be supported.

"Now, Senator Booker also said we should have bipartisan agreement. I think that's a great idea," Cruz said. "We should have bipartisan agreement. How about we all come together and say, 'Let's stop murders.' How about we all come together and say, 'Let's stop rapes.' How about we all come together and say, 'Let's stop attacking pedophiles.'"

He then continued to talk about what happened when the National Guard was ordered to Washington, D.C.

"I want you to look at what happened when the National Guard went to D.C. robbery fell by 57%, homicide fell by 58%, sex abuse fell by 40%. Those are real results," Cruz said.

The internet responded by mocking Cruz, reacting on social media with a series of responses. It appears that no one corrected him after his statement.

'It’s a crime!' Pam Bondi's hate speech remark gets pushback even from MAGA senator

Attorney General Pam Bondi's statements over prosecuting hate speech in the wake of the Charlie Kirk killing have prompted some conservatives, including Sen. Ted Cruz (R-TX), to respond and defend Constitutional protections on Tuesday.

It's also prompted Bondi to walk back her initial statements. Bondi appeared on the Katie Miller podcast on Monday, saying the Department of Justice will “absolutely target you, go after you, if you are targeting anyone with hate speech.”

Cruz said Tuesday that her comments were "misconstrued."

“The First Amendment absolutely protects speech,” Cruz said at Politico's AI & Tech Summit on Tuesday in Washington, D.C. “It absolutely protects hate speech. It protects vile speech. It protects horrible speech. What does that mean? It means you cannot be prosecuted for speech, even if it is evil and bigoted and wrong.”

“We have seen, as you noted, across the country, people on the left — not everybody, but far too many people — celebrating Charlie Kirk’s murder,” Cruz said. “We’ve seen teachers in high schools and elementary schools posting online, celebrating. We’ve seen university professors posting. In my view, they should absolutely face the consequences for celebrating murder.”

Cruz praised Kirk, sharing that he had a friendship with the right-wing influencer.

Bondi posted on social media Tuesday, clarifying that "hate speech that crosses the line into threats of violence is NOT protected by the First Amendment."

"It’s a crime," she wrote, continuing to double down on her attack of the "radical left."

"For far too long, we’ve watched the radical left normalize threats, call for assassinations, and cheer on political violence. That era is over," Bondi said.

In another interview later Monday with Fox News' Sean Hannity, she called on employers to fire their employees who have said "horrible things" or criticized Kirk's past rhetoric, NBC News reports.

"It’s free speech, but you shouldn’t be employed anywhere if you’re going to say that. And employers, you have an obligation to get rid of people. You need to look at people who are saying horrible things, and they shouldn’t be working with you," she said.

Some MAGA supporters have called for Bondi to resign.

Several people have been targeted for comments they shared in the aftermath of Kirk's assassination, including educators and journalists.

'Couldn't muster a word!' MAGA melts down as Charlie Kirk snubbed at the Emmys

MAGA is criticizing the Emmys for snubbing Charlie Kirk, a conservative podcast host and Turning Point USA founder, who was shot and killed last week during a speaking event at a Utah university.

Sen. Ted Cruz (R-TX) on Monday attacked Hollywood and reshared a Hollywood Reporter article, apparently upset over how Kirk was not mentioned during the award show acceptance speeches Sunday night, Politico reports.

“Hollywood claims they’re all about free speech,” Cruz wrote on social media. “And yet not even ONE of them could muster a word about @charliekirk11 being assassinated because of his speech.”

Cruz turned his attention to Hannah Einbinder, who won the Emmy for Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Comedy Series, and declared, “F--- ICE and free Palestine!”

The event mainly dodged politics and avoided Kirk's name, Politico reports.

And MAGA wasn't happy.

“The Emmys made ZERO reference to Charlie Kirk who was assassinated... This is the Hollywood left,” a user on X with more than 36,000 followers wrote.

Another conservative voice on X called Hollywood "evil" and "a joke," saying "it ignored a political voice with a major media presence who was gunned down just 5 days earlier."

"Charlie Kirk lost his life debating in the open for all to see and challenge. These clowns get paid millions to tell partisan “jokes” to their partisan audiences while losing money for their employers," a Salem Radio network affiliate posted on X, calling the show "insulting."

Cruz and other MAGA lawmakers have criticized people who have spoken out against Kirk's rhetoric, even calling for the firing of people who spoke out against right-wing extremism.

'Set out bait and got Ted Cruz': Senator's seemingly 'inadvertent' comment stuns analyst

A prominent Democratic analyst set a trap on Tuesday night and woke up on Wednesday seeing that Sen. Ted Cruz (R-TX) had taken the bait.

John Favreau, host of the "Pod Save America" podcast, posted on X on Tuesday that Democrats should admit they may have been too lenient in letting some criminals out of jail. The post generated outrage on both the left and right, Favreau said.

But the response Cruz offered to the post stunned Favreau. Cruz's reply began with "True," which Favreau noted had a curious double-meaning given the context of his post.

He joined podcast producer Elijah Cone on a new episode on Wednesday to discuss the reactions.

"So, he does think that some politicians have been way too lenient in letting out those people who've committed all those crimes, like Donald Trump," Favreau said. "Ted Cruz has not said a single word since Donald Trump gave those pardons to the January 6th rioters. Not a word about it. No comment from him."

"This will be the first comment that he made accidentally, inadvertently," he continued. "He has an inadvertent response to Trump's January 6 pardons."

"No one has let more violent criminals out of jail this year than Donald Trump," Favreau said.

"How do you feel now that you've set out bait and got Ted Cruz to take it?" Cone asked.

"The serious point here is I do not want us to let go of the argument that you cannot call Donald Trump tough on crime and Democrats soft on crime when the way that Donald Trump feels about crime is that crime is committed by people he doesn't like or people who oppose him, he is going to crack down on," Favreau replied.

Watch the entire clip below or by clicking here.

'Horrible!' Trump accused of using immigrants as guinea pigs for terrifying tech trial

WASHINGTON — Before leaving town for the August recess, Senate Commerce Committee Chair Ted Cruz was forced to pull a measure aimed at limiting federal government use of facial recognition data captured at airports by the Transportation Security Administration (TSA).

But the Texas Republican says he’s got no problem with federal agents deploying more invasive facial recognition technology against immigrants.

“ICE, quite reasonably, is using every tool available,” Cruz told Raw Story.

The Trump administration is deploying facial recognition apps on agents’ phones, testing wrist-worn GPS monitors, collecting migrants’ DNA, and buying eye-scanners.

“It's horrible,” Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-NY) told Raw Story.

Ocasio-Cortez and other Democrats are aghast that their GOP counterparts are willing to cede so much power to the Trump administration. They’re also bracing for the federal government to deploy these new technologies against American citizens in the near future.

‘It’s great’

Self-described GOP privacy hawks on Capitol Hill are up in arms over the TSA deploying facial recognition tools without their constituents' knowledge.

Cruz is vowing to bring the facial recognition measure aimed at the broader traveling public — forcing TSA transparency with travelers, while limiting how the government stores biometric data — before his committee when Congress returns this fall.

But according to Cruz, that’s different from what the Department of Homeland Security and its ICE — Immigration and Customs Enforcement — agents are doing in migrant communities.

“ICE, quite reasonably, is using every tool available to try to apprehend dangerous criminals and potential terrorists before they murder or otherwise harm American citizens,” Cruz told Raw Story.

“ICE is confronting an acute public safety and national security challenge. After four years of Democrats’ open borders, we have millions of illegal immigrants, criminals, murderers, gang members and potential terrorists who come into this country.”

In Trump’s GOP, Cruz is far from an outlier.

“It’s great,” Rep. Joe Wilson (R-SC) told Raw Story, on the other side of Capitol Hill.

“To me it’s just really important that we make every effort to deport, in my view, anyone illegally in the United States.”

Raw Story asked: “Do you worry we might see technology creep, that we’ll use it on migrants but then it will start being deployed on everyday citizens?”

“No,” Wilson said.

“Why not?”

“What ICE is doing is just so important to the future security of the United States,” Wilson said.

“The countervailing argument is that they’re arresting the wrong people. This is a way to prove that you’re going after people who are actually illegal aliens. And so, to me, you can’t have the argument both ways.

“So I will be consistent and unequivocally support any and every technology to identify illegal aliens and remove them from the United States.”

‘Not their first attempt’

Democrats are questioning just how “consistent” their GOP counterparts are.

To many on the left, the fear goes beyond ICE and extends to how the federal government treats citizens’ data.

“It's horrible from any agency perspective whatsoever,” Ocasio-Cortez told Raw Story.

AOC Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-NY) attends a House Oversight hearing. REUTERS/Kent Nishimura

“ICE, of course, is one of the most concerning, not just because it's an immigration thing, but because they have some of the least guardrails. They privately contract with Amazon, Microsoft, and so I think that from a privacy perspective for all of us, this is highly concerning. Highly concerning.”

Such concerns stem, in part, from how the government now surveils social media, tracks cell phone GPS data, utilizes public camera footage and more.

"I was surprised over the years having to realize how much of technology is developed first with the purpose of military uses and intelligence uses, and then it goes from there,” a veteran member of the House Intelligence Committee told Raw Story, speaking anonymously in order to discuss sensitive matters.

“And then even the companies that develop for consumer purposes or commercial purposes first, they start to draw towards getting contracts with the government and the military and the intel services.

"The military and intelligence sectors draw on the companies that have succeeded in the commercial sector. It's amazing to watch, like just to see it. I don't think most Americans realize the deep connection.”

The deep connection isn’t lost on members of Congress who represent migrant communities.

“This is not their first attempt” to use surveillance technology in immigration enforcement, Rep. Rashida Tlaib (D-MI) told Raw Story.

“And from what I understand, they've been collecting DNA without any public knowledge.”

“How worrisome is that?” Raw Story pressed.

“It absolutely should be worrisome,” Tlaib said, “and I think it's important for people to understand our immigrant neighbors: these are human beings. They're not experiments for the tech world and all these folks that want to profit off of the federal government.

“They're not experiments and they're our loved ones, but also they always start with immigrants and then it will be us.”

“You think [use of such technology is] guaranteed to creep?” Raw Story pressed.

“It will be. Guaranteed,” Tlaib said. “They always start with those that are incarcerated, those that are in systems that are in custody of the government and we can't allow human rights violations for immigrants.

“It will trickle down to many other people so I think it's really important to understand it's all profit driven and it's really shameful.”

‘People in masks with guns’

The new surveillance state is coming as ICE agents from coast to coast are being recorded wearing masks on raids — an irony far from lost on critics.

"It's very ironic and hypocritical that the government is using facial recognition technology on Americans and at the same time insists that its agents not show their faces," Rep. Joaquin Castro (D-TX) told Raw Story.

"It's very un-American, and it feels like we're watching something happening in another country from the 1970s where, you know, you turn on the TV … and on the evening news they would have something going on in Nicaragua or somewhere around the world, and you have these people in masks with the guns, right? That's what it looks like."

'Didn't even know': GOP lawmakers talk repeal after being shocked by Big Beautiful Bill provision

Some Republican lawmakers are starting to regret voting for President Donald Trump's megabill now that they're hearing about some of its provisions for the very first time, NBC News reported.

Sahil Kapur, NBC News senior national political reporter, said one of the problematic provisions is a "tax hike on gamblers" that one professional sports better called "potentially catastrophic for the industry."

The clause "would reduce the tax deduction on wagering losses from 100% to 90% starting in 2026," Kapur said in a report for Politics Now.

"Long story short, gamblers could be stuck with a tax bill even if they have zero net winnings in a year."

Kapur said several lawmakers who voted for the legislation now want to repeal it.

"That includes the House's top tax writer, Congressman Jason Smith (R-MO), who told me this tax hike is a mistake by the Senate and that it needs to be undone," Kapur said.

In addition, Sen. Ted Cruz (R-TX) called the provision "unfair" and claimed that "most Republicans didn't even know this was in the bill when they voted to pass it," according to the report.

The Senate passed its final version of Trump's 2026 budget legislation at the beginning of July. The vote was 50-50, with Vice President JD Vance breaking the tie.

Republican senators who voted against the bill were Thom Tillis (R-NC), Rand Paul (R-KY), and Susan Collins (R-ME).

Watch the clip below via NBC News.

‘Clearly afraid’: Warren and Cruz trade barbs over Texas redistricting scheme

WASHINGTON — Texas Republicans are “clearly afraid” of their own voters, Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-MA) told Raw Story after Sen. Ted Cruz (R-TX) compared the Lone Star State’s mid-decade redistricting effort to “gerrymandering” in Democratic strongholds like Massachusetts.

Under pressure from President Donald Trump, Gov. Greg Abbott called the Texas legislature into a special session in an effort to ram through a controversial redistricting plan designed to net as many as five extra GOP seats in next year’s midterm elections.

That’s had Democratic leaders and rank-and-file members calling foul, but Cruz told Raw Story blue state progressives are being hypocrites.

“The Democrats have long used gerrymandering to subvert democracy and expand their congressional delegation,” Texas’s junior senator said.

“For example, the Commonwealth of Massachusetts is a liberal state. There are Republicans in Massachusetts. Indeed, they've elected multiple Republican governors, and yet, of the entire Massachusetts congressional delegation, there are zero Republicans.

“They have drawn the lines in Massachusetts so that only Democrats need apply. [It’s] not surprising that the state of Texas is deciding to redraw the lines to elect more Republicans who reflect views of the vast majority of the state.”

When Raw Story presented Cruz’s argument to Sen. Warren, she laughed.

“Massachusetts is not afraid of our voters, and we don't need to engage in gerrymandering in order to elect our representatives in the state house or in Congress,” Warren said.

“Texas Republicans are clearly afraid that if the good people in Texas are given a chance to vote for who they want, that those Republicans are going to lose power.”

Polling gives President Trump and congressional Republicans reason to believe their unpopular “Big Beautiful Bill” tax cut and spending cut package and the deepening Jeffrey Epstein scandal will severely damage their electoral prospects.

The proposed Texas redistricting is a break with the customary 10-year cycle that lines up with the nation’s census, in an attempt to give the GOP an edge before any votes are cast.

“What do you think about [the Texas redistricting effort] being directed from the White House?” Raw Story asked Warren.

“It’s one more indication that Donald Trump leads the charge when it comes to undercutting democracy, for the Republicans,” the senator said.

‘Everybody's happy at the White House’

Texas Republicans are facing constant questions about the redistricting plan, leading to many representatives running from reporters or offering a dismissive “no comment.”

“I know from a bunch of you Texas members, y'all don't want this,” Raw Story pressed veteran Rep. Michael McCaul (R-TX).

McCaul smiled broadly.

“A lot of y'all are freaked out by it,” Raw Story added.

“Everybody's happy at the White House, now they're looking at an opportunity to get some seats and they talked to the state legislature, and it's their prerogative,” McCaul said.

“So that's kind of where it stands.”

“Maybe put forward policies people like and you can combat that midterm boom the other party always gets?” Raw Story suggested.

“A lot of times it's a game of numbers too. But anyway, this is actually sort of like the White House,” McCaul said. “So, that's about all I can say.”

Gerrymandering — the practice of drawing district lines to favor your own electoral prospects — is named after Elbridge Gerry, a founder, Massachusetts congressman, and U.S. vice president in 1813-14. The practice has always been part of U.S. politics, openly discussed by politicians and advisers.

“The objective is to get Republican seats,” House Budget Committee Chair Jody Arrington, another powerful Texas Republican, told Raw Story.

“But we don't get to draw the maps.”

That was a reference to state authorities set to carry out redistricting. Arrington dismissed suggestions his own seat could disappear, adding: “I think every Republican member from Texas wants to expand our number of seats if we can. I think there's a way to do it.”

Prominent Democrats are urging California governor Gavin Newsom to initiate aggressive redistricting in response to Texas, to reduce the number of Republicans from his overwhelmingly blue state.

Republicans like Arrington dismiss that as dirty politics.

“I think it would be problematic,” Arrington said, adding: “I don't think they can do what we can do because of the system for redistricting … there's not as much behind that threat than there is a realistic opportunity to have more seats in Texas.

“How many, I don't know, but there's definitely more there.”

‘How ugly’

Redistricting is easier in Texas than in California.

“Well, Texas can do what it wants but Newsom doing so would be in direct face of the voter initiative that puts [redistricting] in the hands of an independent commission which I supported as a legislator and as a private citizen back in the day,” Rep. Doug LaMalfa (R-CA) told Raw Story.

“That would have a really very bad look. And the way Newsom is bragging about how, ‘Well we got a three-to-one majority, we could just force this thing through’ … that's a bad look. The people directly said they wanted [redistricting] to be independent of politics and politicians.”

California “voters wanted [redistricting] in the hands of an independent commission,” LaMalfa added.

“I've watched personally, before I was in office, how ugly the process turned when politicians on both sides were drawing the lines in order to benefit their political vendettas and things like that.”

Asked about Texas, LaMalfa repeated that it could do what it wanted.

Another California Republican, Rep. Darrell Issa, was more cynical about the independent commission.

“They already gerrymandered my state,” Issa told Raw Story. “[Democrats] just think they can do a little better. California is already highly gerrymandered. You look at it, we [Republicans] have eight seats. And you look at the [last] election … we should have more than double that.”

“The independent commission is a farce,” Issa added, alleging “gerrymandering, clearly by a commission to create safe seats for Democrats.”

‘It’s racial’

Rep. Al Green (D-TX) is a Capitol Hill institution in himself, a fiery orator and leading figure in the Congressional Black Caucus.

He told Raw Story the Texas redistricting plan was “targeted for minority districts.”

Rep. Al Green (D-TX) is a fiery presence on Capitol Hill. REUTERS/Evelyn Hockstein

“When you target people like that, you have to say what it is. This is racial gerrymandering … to eliminate minority voices in the process,” Green said.

“And there is a fear in this country of using the word ‘racial’ or ‘racism.’ There's a fear.

“We hear ‘antisemitism’ on a daily basis, and we should … but when there is this racial thing occurring, and that's what's happening in Texas, we're not hearing the voices, and that's what it is.”

Green also accused Republicans of “changing the rules in the middle of the game,” with a “mid-decade redistricting without the proper empirical evidence necessary to make judicious decisions.

“This is comparable to saying at a basketball game, ‘We're going to take out two of your players because you may outscore us in the next half,’” Green said. “So at halftime, we decide two of your five won't play. So you're gonna have to play with three, not five. We'll continue to play with five.

“We may even have six. Let's have six for our side and you have three on your side. Oh, we supposed to have 10 on the court? That's right. Okay. Well, look, we'll have seven and you have three.

“That's what this is all about, changing the numbers so that the President can maintain his authoritarian rule.”

Senators on both sides of the aisle reject Trump's 'devastating' new scheme

President Donald Trump wants to cut NASA's budget by 24%, but senators on both sides of the aisle claim that would have devastating consequences on the agency's ability to advance vital scientific research, Bloomberg reported.

In addition, the president is seeking to slash NASA's science portfolio funding "nearly in half" while canceling "dozens of science missions," the report stated.

But during an appropriations committee hearing this week, Republicans and Democrats alike dismissed Trump's cuts, and proposed their own $24.9 billion budget for 2026, which is "roughly" the same amount NASA received for 2025.

Sen. Chris Van Hollen (D-MD) told Bloomberg, "We rejected cuts that would have devastated NASA science by 47% and would have terminated 55 operating and planned missions." Instead, he said, "we provide $7.3 billion" to fund those measures.

"Senators also rejected the Trump administration’s call to cancel NASA’s giant Space Launch System (SLS) rocket and Orion crew capsule, the centerpieces of the Artemis program to return humans to the moon," according to the report.

These proposed cancellations seem at odds with Trump's first-term moonshot goal where he directed "NASA to land humans on the moon within five years 'by any means necessary.'”

Now, in his desire to cut government "waste, fraud, and abuse," Trump's proposed budget is all for phasing out “the grossly expensive and delayed” SLS and Orion programs "after their third flights." But Sen. Ted Cruz (R-TX) made a provision in Trump's "big, beautiful" tax bill to provide an extra $4.1 billion so SLS could be used up through its fourth and fifth flights.

Sen. Jerry Moran (R-KS) said the bipartisan bill "reflects an ambitious approach to space exploration, prioritizing the agency’s flagship program, Artemis, and rejecting premature termination of systems like SLS and Orion before commercial replacements are ready."

On Wednesday, Trump announced that he was appointing Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy, a former Fox News host, to serve as Interim Administrator of NASA."

Read the full Bloomberg story here.