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In response to
"Unsurprisingly, Texas Gov. Abbott, not happy enough that he and all his cronies won, calls for an investigation into Harris County's election results. -- (edited)"
by
Qale
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Unsurprisingly, every accusation is a declaration, Texas Sen. Ted Cruz calls for Mitch McConnell to be 'fired' for midterm losses.
Posted by
Qale
Nov 14 '22, 14:09
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U.S. Sen. Ted Cruz tore into Republican leadership for blowing what he called a "generational opportunity" to win control of Congress in the midterms, calling for fellow Republicans to "fire" Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell.
"Just like with a football coach, where you would fire a football coach if the team loses when they should’ve won — we should’ve won," Cruz said.
The comments come as a growing number of Senate Republicans have called for the GOP to delay leadership elections set for this week after Democrats won control of the Senate over the weekend.
A victory in a Georgia runoff, meanwhile, would expand the Democratic majority to 51, and Democrats still have a shot at holding onto the House, though it appears likely the GOP will gain a slim majority there.
"I am so pissed off, I cannot even see straight," Cruz said on his podcast, which was recorded after Democrats clinched the Senate. "The rage Americans are feeling across this country, the rage I am feeling — there are almost not words to describe it.
"This opportunity was screwed up. It was screwed up badly," he said. "And the people who are going to pay the price are the American people. The country is screwed for the next four years because of this."
The Texas Republican is one of at least seven senators who have urged a delay in the leadership elections. The group also includes Sens. Ron Johnson of Wisconsin, Mike Lee of Utah, Rick Scott and Marco Rubio of Florida, Cynthia Lummis of Wyoming and Josh Hawley of Missouri, according to Politico.
Cruz urged voters to call every Republican in the Senate to push them to get on board. That would include Cruz's fellow Texas Republican, Sen. John Cornyn, who is a close ally of McConnell's.
"It would be insane if we re-elect the same leadership two days from now, if we say, 'Hey nothing happened. Everything’s good. Keep rowing off the waterfall, crash into the rocks, everything’s awesome,'" Cruz said.
McConnell's office did not immediately respond to a request for comment Monday.
Cruz has said he would make another run for the White House "in a heartbeat" after coming in second to former President Donald Trump in the 2016 Republican primaries. Cruz has also put down a marker on 2024 by noting that “the runner-up is almost always the next nominee.”
Trump, who has also suggested he will run in 2024, has repeatedly called for Senate Republicans to oust McConnell, though the Kentucky Republican has insisted he has the votes to hold onto his leadership post.
Cruz specifically blamed McConnell for criticizing the quality of Republican candidates in August, though he said he agreed some Republicans were "not very good candidates."
"It’s really dumb for the Republican leader to take a two-by-four to them while they are running," Cruz said. "Once they're our damn nominees, don’t stand up and kneecap them when they’re running."
Cruz also slammed a McConnell-linked super PAC for canceling millions of dollars worth of TV ads in Arizona, where Republican Blake Masters was outspent by Democratic incumbent Sen. Mark Kelly. Despite those cancellations, One Nation, a McConnell-aligned PAC, spent $13.1 million in Arizona.
Still, Cruz accused McConnell of using the PAC to fund only GOP candidates who would back his leadership of the party.
"Mitch made a decision: It’s more important to him to have Republicans who will back him than it is to have 51 Republicans," Cruz said. "There’s a certain selfishness that justifies that. It just doesn’t make any sense if you give a damn about the country."
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