GOP Hypocrisy

Ted Cruz Hid in Supply Closet Filled With Stacked Chairs During Jan. 6 Riots — Like a Big Ol’ Coward

January 6, 2021, when a surly mob of Trump supporters attacked the U.S. Capitol Building can arguably be called the day that hell broke loose. As the crowd attacked, Republican Senator Ted Cruz (Texas) found himself waiting out the deadly situation inside “a supply closet with stacked chairs” in part, Newsweek reports.

As minutes turned into hours, one member of the angry mob was shot dead by Capitol police, and dozens of officers were injured in the melee. Members of Congress were herded into an undisclosed but secure location on site.

Cruz, one of a handful of Republican senators who opposed the certification election results in Arizona, describes the tragic day’s events in his new book Justice Corrupted: How The Left Weaponized Our Legal System.

“Toward the end of our two-hour session, as Senator James Lankford from Oklahoma was speaking, there was a commotion from outside the Senate chamber,” Cruz writes.

“Suddenly, Capitol Police officers rushed in and hastily escorted the vice president off the dais. Shortly thereafter, we paused the proceedings. In the fog of the confusion, it was difficult to tell what exactly was happening. We were informed that a riot had broken out and that rioters were attempting to violently breach the Capitol building.”

There was a moment of calm but then it was time to find safety, he writes.

“At first, Capitol Police instructed us to remain on the Senate floor. And so we did. Then, a few minutes later, they instructed us to evacuate rapidly.”

Cruz adds that the senators were led to a safe location where “tempers were high.” This meant several senators were “blaming us explicitly for the violence that was occurring.” Well, it can be said that Cruz and other Republicans certainly fanned the flames with their unflagging support of then-President Donald Trump.

But as the violence unfolded, everyone had to regroup.

“While we waited for the Capitol to be secured, I assembled our coalition in a back room (really a supply closet with stacked chairs) to discuss what we should do next,” Cruz writes.

“Several members of the group argued that in the face of the riot, we should suspend our objections and vote to certify the election. I understood the sentiment. But I vehemently disagreed with it. I urged my colleagues that the course of action we were advocating was the right and principled one.”

It’s easy to pretend to be brave when other people are being victimized, as Capitol Police certainly were. They and other law enforcement officials bore the brunt of the crowd’s anger. And it’s ridiculous that he thought he was being “right” and “principled,” when it was entirely clear that Donald Trump had lost to Joe Biden. Cruz’s stubbornness dragged the tragedy out. That’s all it did.

And Cruz was one of only six Republican Senators to vote against certifying the presidential election result from Arizona. He and six other colleagues also opposed certifying Pennsylvania’s results. Their resistance may well have fueled the rioters’ resolve to keep on fighting.

It’s worth remembering that bravery is not one of Cruz’s strong suits. After all, when Texas was suffering a devasting cold snap leaving millions stranded and without power, resulting in 246 deaths, he retreated to Cancun. That’s how he rolls. It’s easy to pretend you’re sticking to your “principles” while hiding in a closet while others die.

That’s how he rolls.

meet the author

Megan has lived in California, Nevada, Arizona, Texas, Louisiana, Mississippi, and Florida and she currently lives in Central America. Living in these places has informed her writing on politics, science, and history. She is currently owned by 15 cats and 3 dogs and regularly owns Trump supporters when she has the opportunity. She can be found on Twitter at https://twitter.com/GaiaLibra and Facebook at https://www.facebook.com/politicalsaurus

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