Ted Cruz Calls Out Republicans Who Bailed on NRA Convention After Uvalde Shooting: ‘It Was Important to Be There’
Ted Cruz expressed frustration with leaders who chose to skip the NRA convention last week, after receiving backlash over the events proximity to the Uvalde, Texas school shooting that left 19 children and two adults dead just days before.
During the Thursday episode of his podcast Verdict with Ted Cruz, co-host Michael Knowles began the conversation by saying, “I have to point out a lot of people dropped out of the NRA convention. Governor (Greg) Abbott dropped out, Senator (John) Cornyn dropped out, Congressman Dan Crenshaw dropped out. Dan Patrick, I think dropped out, the Lieutenant Governor of Texas.”
“A lot of people dropped out. Senator you did not!” Knowles added. “You showed up, you gave a robust defense of the Second Amendment.”
“I thought it was important to be there,” Cruz said. “I was disappointed to see so many others make the decision not to be there. In part because the media narrative that comes out of horrific crimes, horrific mass murders within seconds, the media immediately wants to politicize them and use them to advance their longstanding political agenda that they had moments before the murder occurred.”
He continued, “The media and the Democrats, they want to label anyone who believes in the Second Amendment, anyone who defends the Second Amendment as responsible for this horrific crime and the NRA in particular is probably their favorite boogeyman.”
Cruz added that former President Donald Trump, who also gave a speech at the convention, shared his disappointment in Republican leaders failing to attend.
“I chatted with Trump, right before he went on stage and thanked him for coming,” Cruz boasted. “I said, look, ‘It was important that you came, it was important that you didn’t back out. Thank you for being here.’ And he of course agreed. And he had, let me just say, some choice words for some of the folks who chose not to be there.”
Listen above via Verdict with Ted Cruz.
