Sen. Ted Cruz blasted The New York Times as the paper that “shilled for Stalin” over the weekend after one of its reporters questioned the authenticity of his remarks condemning violence in Charlottesville.
Clear and specific denunciations of racist groups by Florida Sen. Marco Rubio and Mr. Cruz were framed Sunday by Times reporter Eric Lipton as “posturing” for a White House run in 2020.
“Sorry to be cynical, but most of all Rubio and Ted Cruz to me seem mostly to be doing a tremendous job of posturing for 2020,” Mr. Lipton wrote.
Sorry to be cynical, but most of all Rubio and Ted Cruz to me seem mostly to be doing a tremendous job of posturing for 2020.
— Eric Lipton (@EricLiptonNYT) August 13, 2017
Those remarks came less than one day after 32-year-old Heather Heyer was run over and killed during violent protests in Virginia, prompting a pointed rebuke from the Texan.
Mr. Cruz responded to the attack on his character Monday by linking to information on 1930s journalist Walter Duranty, the Times’ Moscow bureau chief who won a Pulitzer Prize for reporting that underplayed and covered up reports of famine and genocide in the Soviet Union under Josef Stalin.
“Gosh, you’re right. Because Nazis & the Klan have such love for Cuban-Americans. If only we worked for a paper that shilled for Stalin,” the senator wrote. “I know it’s hard to understand. Too many schools don’t teach NYT’s shameful history covering up Soviet atrocities.”
The impetus for the exchange began with the following statement from Mr. Cruz: “The Nazis, the KKK, and white supremacists are repulsive and evil, and all of us have a moral obligation to speak out against the lies, bigotry, anti-Semitism, and hatred that they propagate. Having watched the horrifying video of the car deliberately crashing into a crowd of protesters, I urge the Department of Justice to immediately investigate and prosecute this grotesque act of domestic terrorism.”
“Very important for the nation to hear @potus describe events in #Charlottesville for what they are, a terror attack by #whitesupremacists,” Mr. Rubio added Saturday.
Suspect James Alex Fields, 20, was arrested Saturday after the killing of Ms. Heyer, which also injured 19 others. He was denied bail during a court hearing on Monday.
Gosh, you’re right. Because Nazis & the Klan have such love for Cuban-Americans. If only we worked for a paper that shilled for Stalin…. https://t.co/PBsFqauXq2
— Ted Cruz (@tedcruz) August 14, 2017
• Douglas Ernst can be reached at dernst@washingtontimes.com.
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