Texas Sens. Cornyn and Cruz Debase Themselves at the Feet of Dear Leader

At least John Cornyn has an excuse. President Donald Trump has never implied that the Texas senator's wife was ugly, or that his dad helped kill John F. Kennedy, as he has with Cornyn's Senate colleague and fellow Republican Ted Cruz. Still, it's been a little surprising how quickly Texas' senior...

By Stephen Young

June 3, 2020

We think that's Sen. John Cornyn. Hard to tell him apart from all the other Trump brown-nosers. Bobak Ha'Eri / Wikimedia Commons

[
        {
          "name": "Air - MediumRectangle - Inline Content - Mobile Display Size",
          "component": "18855504",
          "insertPoint": "2",
          "requiredCountToDisplay": "2"
        },{
          "name": "Editor Picks",
          "component": "17105533",
          "insertPoint": "4",
          "requiredCountToDisplay": "1"
        },{
          "name": "Inline Links",
          "component": "18349797",
          "insertPoint": "8th",
          "startingPoint": 8,
          "requiredCountToDisplay": "7",
          "maxInsertions": 25
        },{
          "name": "Air - MediumRectangle - Combo - Inline Content",
          "component": "17105532",
          "insertPoint": "8th",
          "startingPoint": 8,
          "requiredCountToDisplay": "7",
          "maxInsertions": 25
        },{
          "name": "Inline Links",
          "component": "18349797",
          "insertPoint": "8th",
          "startingPoint": 12,
          "requiredCountToDisplay": "11",
          "maxInsertions": 25
        },{
          "name": "Air - Leaderboard Tower - Combo - Inline Content",
          "component": "17105535",
          "insertPoint": "8th",
          "startingPoint": 12,
          "requiredCountToDisplay": "11",
          "maxInsertions": 25
        }
      ]

At least John Cornyn has an excuse. President Donald Trump has never implied that the Texas senator's wife was ugly, or that his dad helped kill John F. Kennedy, as he has with Cornyn's Senate colleague and fellow Republican Ted Cruz. Still, it's been a little surprising how quickly Texas' senior senator has been to carry President Donald Trump's water after he gassed protesters and clergy in Washington, D.C., so he could walk to a bizarre photo op and threatened to send the military into U.S. cities.

"I think the president is sending a strong and correct message that we will not tolerate (property damage and theft by protesters) under any circumstances," Cornyn told Fox News Tuesday.

Stopping here to note that Cornyn never said anything remotely similar about the long-gun toting white guys who showed up at state capitols around the country after they were told to stay home during the pandemic.

In a separate interview with CNN, Cornyn said Trump's decision to clear a path through peaceful protesters with tear gas and rubber bullets so he could go hold a Bible upside down and take a photo in front of St. John's Episcopal Church was "a necessary security measure" because the protesters did not clear the area when they were asked to do so.

Police and members of the US military were deployed to clear out a protest so Trump can hold up a Bible outside of church. pic.twitter.com/2i0TFCveNp
— Jim Acosta (@Acosta) June 1, 2020

Similarly, Cruz, who does not have the excuse of the president having been nice to him, backed up Trump.

.@SenTedCruz: "I am glad the president yesterday led by going to St. John's Church...It was important for the president to be there and say we will not be cowed by terrorists." pic.twitter.com/F6iNwxcGUv
— CSPAN (@cspan) June 2, 2020

To Cruz, peaceful protesters angry over police violence in the United States apparently are the same as looters doing property damage in American cities. They're domestic terrorists, same as white supremacist groups and mass shooters. Cruz also compared antifa, the overarching name given to groups opposing white supremacists and their ilk, to the KKK and Nazis.

Lefty Twitter trolls live in an alternative universe. They keep saying “what about KKK”?

IKKK are evil, bigoted terrorists.

Nazis are evil, bigoted terrorists.

ANTIFA are evil, bigoted terrorists.

Don’t kill people or burn cop cars. Don’t be terrorists.

It’s not complicated. https://t.co/BqewbprG8M
— Ted Cruz (@tedcruz) May 31, 2020

At least he doesn't hold a grudge.

Become A Member

BEFORE YOU GO...
Can you help us continue to share our stories? Since the beginning, Dallas Observer has been defined as the free, independent voice of Dallas — and we'd like to keep it that way. Our members allow us to continue offering readers access to our incisive coverage of local news, food, and culture with no paywalls.