Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene slammed Sen. Ted Cruz over the Texas Republican’s comments calling the Jan. 6 Capitol riot an act of terror.
The Georgia Republican told reporters on Thursday that Mr. Cruz should know better than to mirror left-wing talking points.
“Sen. Cruz is smart enough to know – he’s an attorney – [that] no one’s been charged with terrorism,” Mrs. Greene said. “No one’s been charged with insurrection. I think that was very irresponsible of him to call them terrorists.”
Rep. Matt Gaetz, Florida Republican, warned Mr. Cruz, whose politics normally align with the two conservative lawmakers, that repeating liberal rhetoric won’t win him any friends on the other side of the aisle.
“The establishment will never love you, Ted,” Mr. Gaetz said. “You can bend over at the bended knee for them, but they’re just not going to love you. I think that was maybe an effort by the good senator who we agree with on many, many things to recast himself in the eyes of some of the folks in your profession, but we didn’t find it particularly factual or sincere.”
Mrs. Greene and Mr. Gaetz were the only Republicans to hold a press event on the first anniversary of the Jan. 6 riots, besides Rep. Liz Cheney of Wyoming, who joined House Democrats in their moment of silence.
Mr. Cruz had called the riot earlier in the week “a violent terrorist attack on the Capitol” during a Senate Rules Committee hearing.
The Texas Republican’s comments were quickly seized by pundits, including Fox News host Tucker Carlson who questioned his rhetoric on his show on Wednesday night.
“Of all the things Jan. 6 was, it was definitely not a violent terrorist attack. It wasn’t an insurrection,” Mr. Carlson said. “Was it a riot? Sure. It was not a violent terrorist attack. Sorry! So why are you telling us it was, Ted Cruz?”
Mr. Cruz was one of more than a dozen senators who objected to certifying the 2020 election results that declared President Biden the victor. The rioters who stormed the Capitol were protesting the Senate’s certification of that.
Mr. Cruz helped lead the effort not to certify the Electoral College results, along with Sen. Josh Hawley of Missouri.
• Mica Soellner can be reached at msoellner@washingtontimes.com.
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