The Houston Chronicle editorial board is calling on Sen. Ted Cruz (R-TX) to resign, contending that “his lies cost lives.”
In a January 8 op-ed, the editorial board accused Cruz of fanning the flames of unrest and effectively inciting the chaos that occurred at the U.S. Capitol on January 6 by committing to objecting to electoral votes in disputed states.
Describing him as a “brilliant and frequent advocate before the U.S. Supreme Court and a former Texas solicitor general,” the board concluded that the Texas senator knew “exactly what he was doing, what he was risking and who he was inciting as he stood on the Senate floor Wednesday and passionately fed the farce of election fraud even as a seething crowd of believers was being whipped up by President Trump a short distance away.”
The board raged over Cruz’s assertion that a sizeable portion of the American people believe the election was rigged and asserted that he “overstated” the magnitude of distrust among the American people, adding that it was “fueled by Trump’s torrent of fantastical claims of voter fraud that were shown again and again not to exist.”
Like Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-NY), who has also called on Cruz to resign, the editorial board mentioned the fundraising email that went out during the events, which he previously clarified was an automated message.
“Even if that’s true, it’s revolting,” the Houston Chronicle editorial board said, accusing Cruz of lying “unflinchingly, on national television” in the days following the election.
The board ultimately called on him to resign, concluding that there is “no love lost” as it did not endorse him in 2018:
Since the Capitol siege, Cruz has condemned the violence, tweeting after the death of Capitol Police Officer Brian Sicknick that “Heidi and I are lifting up in prayer” the officer’s family and demanding the terrorists be prosecuted.
Well, senator, those terrorists wouldn’t have been at the Capitol if you hadn’t staged this absurd challenge to the 2020 results in the first place. You are unlikely to be prosecuted for inciting the riots, as President Trump may yet be, and there is no election to hold you accountable until 2024. So, we call for another consequence, one with growing support across Texas: Resign.
“We’re done with the drama. Done with the opportunism. Done with the cynical scheming that has now cost American lives,” the board added, again calling on Cruz to resign and “deliver Texas from the shame of calling you our senator.”
Ocasio-Cortez engaged in a heated back and forth with the Texas senator following the Capitol riots, accusing him of instigating the protests and calling on both him and Sen. Josh Hawley (R-MO) to resign:
Cruz has repeatedly condemned the violence, calling the event that took place on January 6 a “despicable act of terrorism and a shocking assault on our democratic system.”