Lee: Establishment GOP Waged 'All-Out Attack' on Cruz, Me

In an interview on Salem Radio’s Hugh Hewitt Show, Sen. Mike Lee (R-UT) revealed that, in a conference meeting of Republican Senators earlier this week, a group of Republicans waged an “all-out attack” on himself and Sen. Ted Cruz (R-TX): 

Hewitt: There was, allegedly, a Republican Senate conference earlier this week where your colleague Ted Cruz took a lot of slings and arrows. Were you there, Sen. Lee? 

Lee:  Yes, Yes! I was there and normally I don’t comment at all on closed door meetings among Republican Senators. It’s a pretty strict rule we follow. The one exception Ill make is in circumstances like this one where the contents of the meeting were leaked, deliberately, by several of my colleagues and leaked in a very one-sided way so I’m happy to tell you about it here.

Hewitt: Please do.

Lee: It was an all-out attack against Ted Cruz and me. It was unflattering, it was unfair, it was demeaning. It was demeaning to Senator Ted Cruz and to me, but more than anything it was demeaning to those who engaged in the attack.

Hewitt: How many Senators rose to speak against you guys?

Lee: Quite a few, enough that I lost count. And you know I have to ask the question, you know, why were those who leaked this, and leaked this in a very unflattering, unfavorable way, why were they not willing to attach their names to those quotes? 

You know Ted Cruz and I spoke after the meeting and we both concluded we would both be fine with the American people hearing and seeing exactly what we said in that meeting. But we’re pretty sure that most of our colleagues would be very uncomfortable, and downright embarrassed if their constituents saw the way they were behaving.

Listen below to Senator Lee talk about being attacked and whether he received any support in the conference from fellow Republicans. The interview will air Friday at 4:40 p.m. PT: