Rep. Peter D. King issued a statement Friday scolding Sen. Ted Cruz supporters for making “vulgar, rabid and adolescent type” phone calls to his office.
“I owe it to my staff — particularly the female members and young interns — to make this statement,” said Mr. King, who slammed Mr. Cruz’s supporters as suffering “from severe cases of arrested development,” The Washington Post reported.
“What I do find revealing is the number of vulgar, rabid and adolescent type phone calls my office has received from Cruz supporters,” the New York Republican said. “The puerile language used is what most kids outgrow and move beyond when they reach sophomore year in high school. … The fact that women and young interns in my office have to listen to these perverse rantings is particularly shameful.”
Mr. King went on to say he couldn’t imagine supporters of Jeb Bush, Scott Walker, Lindsey Graham, John Kasich or Marco Rubio “reacting so disgracefully.”
“Clearly, Sen. Cruz has many decent and honorable supporters,” he acknowledged, The Post reported. “At the same time though we must ask why he has such an unusual appeal to this low denominator in American politics.”
Rick Tyler, a spokesman for Mr. Cruz, declined to respond to Mr. King’s comments.
“Since you won’t find a clip or a quote of Senator Cruz ’returning fire’ on a Republican colleague, we won’t start now,” he told The Post.
• Jessica Chasmar can be reached at jchasmar@washingtontimes.com.
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