Tucker Confronts Cruz For Calling Jan 6th A "Terrorist Attack", Senator Apologizes For "Sloppy...Dumb" Comments
(Tyler Durden) Cruz appeared on Tucker Carlson’s evening show Thursday, apparently at his own request, and attempted to back track on what he said, claiming that he’d been referring to attacks on police.
Carlson said to Cruz “There are a lot of dumb people in the Congress. You are not one of them. I think you’re smarter than I am. And you never use words carelessly. And yet you called this a terror attack when by no definition was it a terror attack. That’s a lie. You told that lie on purpose, and I’m wondering why you did.”
Cruz responded “When you aired your episode last night, I sent you a text shortly thereafter and said listen, I would like to go on because the way I phrased things yesterday, it was sloppy, and it was frankly dumb.”
Carlson interjected, urging “Look, I’ve known you a long time. Since before you went to the Senate, you’re a Supreme court contender. You take words as seriously as any man who’s ever served in the Senate. And every word you repeated that phrase. I do not believe that you use that accidentally. I just don’t.”
Cruz again described his language as “a poor choice of words,” claiming that “as a result of my sloppy phrasing, it’s caused a lot of people to misunderstand what I meant.”
“Let me tell you what I meant,” The Senator continued, explaining
“What I was referring to are the limited number of people who engaged in violent attacks against police officers. I think you and I both agree that if you assault a police officer, you should go to jail.”
“That’s who I was talking about. And the reason the phrasing was sloppy is I have talked dozens if not hundreds of times, I’ve drawn a distinction. I wasn’t saying that the thousands of peaceful protestors supporting Donald Trump are somehow terrorists. I wasn’t saying the millions of patriots across the country, supporting president Trump are terrorists,” Cruz declared, adding “And that’s what a lot of people have misunderstood that.”
Carlson continued to say he doesn’t believe Cruz.
“Hold on a second,” the host shot back, noting “What you just said doesn’t make sense. So if somebody assaults a cop, he should be charged and go to jail. I couldn’t agree more. We have said that for years, but that person’s still not a terrorist. How many people have been charged with terrorism on January 6?”
Carlson continued, “Like why’d you use that word? You’re playing into the other side’s characterization, that… allows them to define an entire population as foreign combatants. And you know that so why’d you do it?”
Cruz responded, “The reason I’ve used that word for a decade, I have referred to people who violently assault police officers as terrorists. I’ve done so over and over and over again. If you look at all the assaults we’ve seen across the country, I’ve called that terrorism over and over again.”
The Senator continued, “That being said, Tucker, I agree with you. It was a mistake to say that yesterday. And the reason is what you just said, which is we’ve now had a year of Democrats in the media, twisting words, and trying to say that all of us are terrorists trying to say you’re a terrorist, I’m a terrorist.”
“And so look, I don’t like people who assault cops and, and, and I stand up and defend cops,” Cruz carried on, adding “The reason I use that word is that’s the word I’ve always used for people that violently attack cops. But in this context, I get why people were angry because we’ve had a year of the corrupt corporate media and Democrats claiming anyone who objected to the election fraud.”
“I guess I just don’t believe you,” Carlson said.
“And I mean that with respect because I have such respect for your acuity and your precision.”
Cruz also tweeted the interview out, saying his words were dumb:
Yesterday, I used a dumb choice of words and unfortunately a lot of people are misunderstanding what I meant. pic.twitter.com/vWCjFnA4t3
— Ted Cruz (@tedcruz) January 7, 2022
I was ONLY talking about the limited number of people who committed violent assaults on police officers.
— Ted Cruz (@tedcruz) January 7, 2022
For over a decade, I’ve referred to those who violently attack police officers as terrorists. If you assault a cop you should go to jail.
