Despite absolutely no one needing or wanting it, Ted Cruz has weighed in on the protests that took place this weekend outside of the homes of the conservative Supreme Court Justices who have voted to overturn Roe v. Wade.
Speaking with Fox News’s Sean Hannity, Cruz did some truly spectacular rewriting of history, claiming that this weekend’s entirely peaceful protests were more dangerous than the January 6 attack on the U.S. Capitol.
“On January 6, 2021, you had tens of thousands of people peacefully protesting and yet the corporate media and Democrats slandered them with the made-up term ‘insurrectionists,'” Cruz said.
“And yet, in this instance, they are not willing to call off their goons, even now—even now—as this has the potential to escalate and escalate further.”
Ted Cruz rewrites history by claiming the January 6 insurrectionists were “peacefully protesting,” in contrast with the people demonstrating outside Alito’s house pic.twitter.com/OMFVOURMrW
— Aaron Rupar (@atrupar) May 10, 2022
First of all, protesters are not Democrats’ “goons” because the majority of the Democratic Party has made it clear they are not supporting this fight in the slightest.
Next, “insurrectionist” is not a “made up” term. It’s literally been in use since about the 15th Century. It’s also an accurate description of the people who stormed the U.S. Capitol to stop Congress from certifying the 2020 presidential electoral votes.
Finally, and obviously most importantly, the idea that this weekend’s protests—which involved no reported acts of violence—were worse than the events of January 6—which saw much violence (as well as property damage, which we know Republicans consider tantamount to actual violence), multiple deaths, and the subsequent arrests of more than 800 people—is absolutely ridiculous.
Some have pointed out that Cruz is contradicting himself, since after the Jan 6 attack he condemned the violence and then had to go on Fox News to apologize for describing the events as they happened. But he’s also contradicting basic reality, as there is much video of both events and they don’t even come close to comparing, at all, in any sense.
Cruz said that the SCOTUS protests had the “potential to escalate.” Literally everything has the potential to escalate. These protests so far have had no violence attached to them but so much has been made of their “potential” as a basis for unearned condemnation.
Supreme Court Justices and their families are likely to get increased security, not just now but permanently. Fences have gone up outside the Supreme Court. All of that is because of feared potential, and it is all serving as an insulting substitute for actually respecting the will and rights of the people the court (and lawmakers like Ted Cruz) are supposed to be serving.
(image: Sergio Flores/Getty Images)
