Law Enforcement July 7, 2021

Opinion: Ted Cruz Keeps Saying He Isn’t Out To Defund The Police, But His Votes Say Otherwise

WASHINGTON, DC - APRIL 22: Senate Judiciary Committee member Sen. Ted Cruz (R-TX) holds a news conference to voice his opposition to adding justices to the U.S. Supreme Court outside the court's building on April 22, 2021 in Washington, DC. The White House has formed a commission to study possible changes to the Supreme Court, including adding seats or instituting term limits. "The road to anarchy is being paved by this agenda," Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-SC) said during the news conference and warned that changing the makeup of the court or doing away with the filibuster will "destroy this country." (Photo by Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images)

Few things get Texas Senator Ted Cruz more upset than confronting him with his own actions.

When he was caught boarding a plane to Cancun, Mexico while Texas was in the midst of a deadly deep freeze, Cruz tried to cover his tracks and even put the blame on his daughters for the ill-advised trip.

Now, he’s lashing out because he’s unhappy that he and his fellow Republicans are being accused by Democrats of trying to defund the police. That really upsets Cruz, because the defund the police rap is one the GOP has been hanging on Democrats for quite some time. So he went to the official Republican ‘safe space’ — better known as Fox News — to state his factually-challenged case in an op/ed.

The idea that Republicans, and not Democrats, have defunded the police is like an arsonist showing up as the fire’s blazing and blaming the firemen; it’s like O.J. saying he’s going to help find the real killer.

It’s ridiculous. And Democrats know it. https://t.co/xjk4EneuXL
— Ted Cruz (@tedcruz) July 5, 2021

Cruz’s editorial was all about trying to pin the ‘defund the police’ medal back on the Democrats, despite President Biden’s definitive statements that he does not support defunding the police. Also, various fact-checks show that the push for reducing police budgets comes from the party’s far-left wing, and is nowhere near representative of the Democratic Party’s view on policing.

Cruz knows this, but he was quite obviously pushing back against White House press secretary Jen Psaki’s remarks to Fox News’ Peter Doocy recently that Republicans voted against a bill that provided funding to keep police officers on the payroll at departments across the U.S.

Watch the exchange here:

Jen Psaki takes a Peter Doocy question and uses it to drill Republicans on voting against funding for the police. pic.twitter.com/dHlQysinZO
— Sarah Reese Jones (@PoliticusSarah) June 28, 2021

Clearly those remarks stung Cruz and his GOP allies, because, well… apparently the truth really does hurt.

We pointed out recently that the GOP has abandoned the law and order theme that has been part of its party platform since … forever. How, you ask? Well, first by refusing to vote for a bipartisan commission to investigate the Jan. 6 Insurrection, in which dozens of police officers were injured by rioters. Also, by having 21 of its members vote against honoring the Capitol Police for their bravery on January 6 with Congressional gold medals.

So much for “Back the Blue.”

NJ Democratic Representative Bill Pascrell, Jr. also took issue with Cruz’s editorial.

Last month every single House republican voted against funding US Capitol law enforcement after rightwing terrorists ransacked the Capitol and killed and maimed police. Every single one. https://t.co/uMpuwdQaFP
— Bill Pascrell, Jr. (@BillPascrell) July 5, 2021

And as Psaki noted, every single Republican — EVERY. SINGLE. ONE — voted against President Biden’s $1.9 trillion American Rescue Plan, a bill that included $350 billion in aid that states and cities can use to hire more police officers, and implement new training. Including Ted Cruz.

So when Cruz says the Democrats are trying to gaslight America by saying it’s the Republicans who are defunding the police, it’s simply the Texas senator practicing some next-level projection. He can say or write whatever he wants on Fox News.

But his voting record reveals the truth.