Brit Hume: Cruz’s McConnell Attack Was Hypocritical

Fox News Senior Political Analyst Brit Hume argued that Senator and GOP presidential candidate Ted Cruz’s (R-TX) attack on Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY) was hypocritical on Monday’s “Special Report” on the Fox News Channel.

Hume said, “The first thing you need to know about Ted Cruz’s assault on Mitch McConnell is that it’s not about Ted Cruz and Mitch McConnell. It’s about Ted Cruz and Donald Trump. Cruz entered the presidential race as the renegade hero of the anti-establishment right, the man who would call out his party’s leadership for what he considers their weak-kneed ways. He raised some serious money early on, but his campaign never quite took off. And then along came Donald Trump, who not only cruised past Cruz, but passed everyone else in the Republican field. He did it while attacking his fellow Republicans with abandon. When Trump himself was under attack for denigrating [Sen.] John McCain’s (R-AZ) war record, Cruz refused to criticize Trump. He insisted his stance was born of fidelity to the so-called 11th Commandment made famous by Ronald Reagan, thou shalt not speak ill of any fellow Republican. Last Thursday, on this channel, he went so far as to tell Neil Cavuto, quoting here, ‘Scripture teaches that if someone visits evil upon you, you should repay them in kindness.’ … Two days later, Cruz was on the Senate floor calling Republican leader Mitch McConnell a liar, so much for Ronald Reagan and so much for St. Peter. It may have shown Cruz to be an obvious hypocrite, but for one day at least, he trumped Trump, and that means mission accomplished.”

Hume added that Trump’s polling numbers do reflect the frustration with Washington, and that “Republicans have a problem. That wing of the party, the deeply anti-establishment wing, the disaffected wing, the disillusioned wing, is significantly large enough that if they’re not back in the fold by the fall election next year…the Republicans’ chances of winning the election may be out the window.”

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