Twitter Destroys Ted Cruz For Trumpian Attack On Dem Opponent’s Name (TWEETS/VIDEO)

By
Darrell Lucus
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Ted Cruz went from calling for Republicans to “vote your conscience” at the 2016 GOP Convention to kissing Donald Trump’s ring just two months later. Ever since, it seems that he’s gone overtime to prove his loyalty to the Donald.

On Wednesday, for instance, he told CNN that he really doesn’t care about the smoldering scandals surrounding the Trump administration. All that matters to him is the numerous Republican policy wins. That’s quite a turnabout for a guy who blew a gasket when Trump trashed his family.

But believe it or not, that wasn’t the strongest evidence to date that Trump is rubbing off on Cruz. That moment came hours earlier, when Cruz “congratulated” the man trying to deny him a second term by churning out a radio ad that would have done Trump proud.

Cruz isn’t going to have an easy time of it in his bid for another term as Texas’ junior Senator. He’s facing a stiffer-than-expected challenge from Congressman Beto O’Rourke. The El Paso Democrat has been a fundraising machine in recent months. He not only outraised Cruz during the first two months of 2018, but also outpaced him in the last quarter of 2017. At last report, O’Rourke has raised a total of $8.7 million–more than any Democratic Senate candidate in Texas has raised in recent memory.

Granted, Cruz still has a million more dollars on hand than O’Rourke. But Democrats running statewide in Texas are not normally supposed to have nearly this much money at this stage in the game. By way of comparison, Cruz’ Democratic opponent in 2012, Paul Sadler, only raised $705,000 during the entire campaign. It’s a major reason many prognosticators have moved the Texas Senate race to “likely Republican”–meaning that while Cruz is still favored, O’Rourke is making a race of it.

That rating change must have been enough to make Cruz desperate. It’s about the only way you can explain this radio ad he rolled out on Twitter just minutes after he and O’Rourke officially clinched their primaries.

It was no surprise that Cruz, who is a tea partier’s tea partier, took a swipe at O’Rourke’s unashamedly liberal voting record. But what came as a surprise was this swipe at O’Rourke’s name.

“I remember reading stories liberal Robert wanted to fit in. So he changed his name to ‘Beto,’ and hid it with a grin.”

O’Rourke’s real name is Robert Francis O’Rourke. He’s always been known as “Beto”–which seems to be a more-than-appropriate nickname in an 80 percent Latino city.


As juvenile and Trumpian as this swipe would be by itself, it’s even more so considering that Cruz’ real name is Rafael Edward Cruz. So it comes as no surprise that Rafael Edward is getting skewered on Twitter.

For his part, O’Rourke is staying above the fray. He told NPR’s Rachel Martin that he’s focused on “the big things,” like health care and real immigration reform. He’s also going on a whirlwind tour of all 254 of Texas’ counties–including several areas where Democrats normally don’t set foot.

He kept up this line hours later when he chatted with CNN’s Alisyn Camerota. Watch here.

When Camerota asked O’Rourke about that ad, O’Rourke replied that he didn’t think “that’s what folks in Texas want us to focus on.” Rather than “name-calling,” he wants to campaign on “the big things that we want to do for the future of our country”–immigration, health care, and education, among other things. Spoken like a true Senator.

Later in the day, however, O’Rourke managed to get a little dig in at Cruz. He tweeted this old family picture showing him wearing a sweater bearing his nickname.

He’d posted it to Instagram a month earlier.

Even with O’Rourke’s strong showing thus far, he’s going to need a lot of help to have a chance to take his vision to the other side of the Capitol. Not only did Republican primary turnout outstrip Democratic turnout, but geography is working against him. No one from west of San Antonio has ever represented Texas in the Senate.


Still, it’s nothing short of spectacular that O’Rourke has already come this far. Let’s help him get over the line and send Rafael Edward into retirement. Send him some love here.

(featured image courtesy Gage Skidmore, available under a Creative Commons BY-SA license)

Darrell Lucus
Darrell is a 30-something graduate of the University of North Carolina who considers himself a journalist of the old school. An attempt to turn him into a member of the religious right in college only succeeded in turning him into the religious right's worst nightmare--a charismatic Christian who is an unapologetic liberal. His desire to stand up for those who have been scared into silence only increased when he survived an abusive three-year marriage. You may know him on Daily Kos as Christian Dem in NC. Follow him on Twitter @DarrellLucus or connect with him on Facebook. Click here to buy Darrell a Mello Yello.

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