CNN’s Kaitlan Collins asked Sen. Ted Cruz about recent MAGA attacks against Sen. Joni Ernst, who heaven forbid dared to express some hesitation about allowing the nomination of Pete Hegseth to go through for Defense Secretary.
Cruz refused to condemn the attacks, and instead did his best to “both sides” what’s happening now, with these unqualified, dangerous zealots that Trump wants to jam through the Senate if they allow it, and how he behaved when blocking the moderates that Biden nominated for his cabinet.
COLLINS: Do you think it’s fair that someone should be threatened with a primary just because they’re not totally committed to a nominee yet?
CRUZ: Look, I think the voters are going to express their views. That’s politics. And I believe the people have a right to say that. I also believe in the Senate confirmation process. So, you know, every one of the nominees, I think all of Trump’s nominees for the cabinet at least are going to be confirmed.
COLLINS: Every single one?
CRUZ: I do. But now, look, you’ve got 53 Republicans in the Senate, and I think most Republican Senators begin from a proposition that the president is entitled to choose his cabinet nominees.
Now, there is a back and forth on it. I mean, Trump did withdraw Matt Gaetz, and that was after a number of Senators pressed back. And so the advice and consent is part of the constitution. It’s an important role. But at the end of the day, and by the way, when Joe Biden was president, that that that’s the same way Democrats approached it, which is they they voted to confirm whoever he put up.
COLLINS: Yeah. Well, and I know, you know, with that, we hear some Republicans saying, “The president’s entitled to his nominees,” I’ve heard some people push back and say, well, we’ve seen Republicans vote against all of Biden’s picks. You know, you voted for against everyone except Lloyd Austin.
CRUZ: Yeah, but look, I mean, a lot of Biden’s picks, I think were extreme. You look at someone like Merrick Garland. I think Merrick Garland has been the most partisan and political Attorney General the country’s ever seen. You look at someone like Alejandro Mayorkas, who opened up the border and caused an invasion at our southern border.
It actually– I was surprised Biden did not nominate more moderate candidates. You look at Trump. Trump’s nominated several people who were Democrats until like 12 minutes ago. Tulsi Gabbard, RFK.
Republicans believe “advise and consent” means they get to nominate anyone they want and Democrats are supposed to go along, and Democrats should never get to nominate anyone they want, even if they’re mealymouthed moderates like Garland, who Cruz laughingly accuses of being an “extremist.”
And Democrats kicked Gabbard and RFK Jr. to the curb a long time ago. They’re both Russian assets, so your party owns them now Ted. We don’t want them.
And Alejandro Mayorkas doesn’t make border policy in the United States. Congress does. Congress had a bipartisan border bill they were going to pass until Trump killed it. So we can thank your party and Dear Leader for nothing being done on that front as well because all of you wanted it as a political issue to run on in the last election.
Kaitlan Collins, of course, didn’t do an ounce of push back to Cruz’s lies about what type of people Biden nominated for his cabinet, and just moved onto the next question.
