Ted Cruz Warns Trump Administration Is Losing ‘Credibility’ Over Minneapolis Shootings

Sen. Ted Cruz (R-TX) warned the Trump administration that it’s losing “credibility” with Americans over its handling of two fatal shootings by immigration agents in Minneapolis this month. He urged the administration to “ratchet the rhetoric down.”

On Monday’s Verdict With Ted Cruz, the senator began by saying, “Everyone who has anything resembling a conscience is horrified by what’s happening in Minneapolis. What I want to call on everyone to do is just ratchet things down. Ratchet the rhetoric down, ratchet the anger down.”

“We are supposed to be one nation,” Cruz continued. “And right now we’re seeing a confrontation — now look, this is an organized confrontation, this is a deliberate confrontation — But I want to start with the rhetoric politicians are using on both sides.

“On one side, they view every shooting as an absolute tragedy, as evidence that America has become Nazi Germany; on the other side, you see some people that seem pretty eager to celebrate a violent and lethal confrontation with law enforcement,” Cruz said. “Any time you have an American that is killed in a confrontation with law enforcement, it is tragic that a life is lost. Particularly in this instance, we now have two people, two Americans, who have been killed in confrontation with law enforcement, who, from all appearances, are not violent criminals.”

Cruz then offered his advice to the administration:

What I think the administration could do better is the tone with which they’re describing this — that immediately when an incident like this happens, they come out guns blazing. That, “We took out a violent terrorist. Hooray!” And the problem is…you’re being told this is a mom of three and she’s not waving an ISIS flag or doesn’t have a suicide vest around her — escalating the rhetoric doesn’t help, and it actually loses credibility. And, so, I would encourage the administration to be more measured, to recognize the tragedy, and to say, “We don’t want anyone’s lives to be lost.” And the politicians who are pouring gasoline on this fire, they need to stop.

Cruz is one of many Republicans now telling the Trump administration that “enough is enough” over the violence.

Watch the clip above via YouTube.

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