Texas Democrats, Rep. Joaquin Castro (D-TX) and his brother Julián Castro — a former Democrat presidential candidate who served as the Secretary of Housing and Urban Development during the Obama administration — called on Sen. Ted Cruz (R-TX) to resign following the chaos that descended upon the U.S. Capitol on Wednesday.
“He has conducted himself shamelessly, and I think he has done this because he believes it’s the only way, the only chance that he has to win the Republican nomination for president,” Joaquin Castro told the Texas Tribune on Wednesday.
Both he and his brother explicitly called for Cruz to resign on Wednesday via Twitter:
Joaquin also accused President Trump of instigating the violence. In actuality, the president called for peace repeatedly as the events unfolded.
“He egged it on. He instigated it. And I say that I don’t think he knows what he’s encouraging people to do, and actually I take that back,” Castro said.
“Whether he doesn’t know or he does — I said it the other day — this is the most dangerous president that this country has ever seen,” he added.
Julián Castro said Trump “whipped people up over the years into a frenzy, violating norm after norm after norm.”
“The classic frog in slowly boiling water. Because of that, that’s where we’re at right now,” he said, shifting blame back to Sen. Cruz, who also condemned the violence repeatedly on Wednesday:
“He has been spectacularly irresponsible, an embarrassment to the state of Texas,” Castro added.
Cruz also responded to his former failed challenger Beto O’Rourke, who told the Texas senator, “It is your self serving attempt at sedition that has helped to inspire these terrorists and their attempted coup.”
Stop stoking division. Stop spreading hatred. Stop using malicious rhetoric (such as false & reckless charges of ‘sedition’),” Cruz responded.
“Stop showing contempt for the half of the country that disagrees with you,” he added. “Violence is wrong. We can do better. We are one Nation. #EPluribusUnum”:
Rep. Ruben Gallego (D-AZ) told MSNBC on Wednesday that both Sens. Cruz and Josh Hawley (R-MO) are “traitors to this country, traitors to the Constitution.”
“Cruz and Hawley did not break in with the rioters and neither did Donald Trump, but their words broke the barriers of civility that have really kept this country together for hundreds of years,” he said.
“And they’re just as responsible and they should be ashamed. They should be really ashamed,” he added. “The names of Cruz and Hawley should go down in history next to people like Benedict Arnold — and Donald Trump.”