Sen. Ted Cruz was booed off the stage Wednesday at a sold-out conference for Middle Eastern Christians after claiming that Christians are Israel’s best friends.
Mr. Cruz, during his keynote speech at nonprofit In Defense of Christians’ inaugural summit in D.C., told the room that “Christians have no greater ally than Israel,” eliciting loud boos.
“Those who hate Israel hate America. Those who hate Jews hate Christians. If those in this room will not recognize that, then my heart weeps,” the Texas Republican continued as the audience got more vocal, The Daily Caller reported. If you hate the Jewish people you are not reflecting the teachings of Christ. And the very same people who persecute and murder Christians right now, who crucify Christians, who behead children, are the very same people who target Jews for their faith, for the same reason.”
The president of the organization sponsoring the event tried to calm the crowd, but to no avail. So Mr. Cruz sent a final parting shot at the audience and left the stage.
“If you will not stand with Israel and the Jews, then I will not stand with you,” he said. “Good night and God bless.”
The Washington Free Beacon reported that the event’s list of speakers included “some of the Assad regime’s most vocal Christian supporters, as well as religious leaders allied with the Iranian-backed terrorist group Hezbollah.”
But Mr. Cruz’s spokesman said he wanted to speak at the event, despite the presence of the anti-Jewish Hezbollah, “to take every opportunity to highlight this crisis, the unspeakable persecution of Christians,” The Blaze reported.
• Cheryl K. Chumley can be reached at cchumley@washingtontimes.com.
Please read our comment policy before commenting.