Ted Cruz angrily quits interview after being
confronted about gun control
Texas senator says ‘I’m sorry you think American
exceptionalism is awful’ in response to questions about Uvalde massacre
Senator Ted Cruz addresses the media the day after a
gunman killed 19 children and two teachers at Robb elementary school in Uvalde,
Texas.
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Martin
Pengelly
@MartinPengelly
Thu 26 May
2022 14.37 BST
https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2022/may/26/ted-cruz-angrily-quits-interview-gun-control
The Texas
Republican senator Ted Cruz confronted a British reporter and angrily left an
interview after he was asked why school shootings like that in Uvalde, where 19
children and two adults were killed, happen so often in the US.
Texas
officials deflect questions on ‘missing hour’ when gunman was in school – as it
happened
Read more
“I’m sorry
you think American exceptionalism is awful,” Cruz said. “You’ve got your
political agenda. God love you.”
On
Thursday, the news site Axios published a list of the leading recipients of gun
lobby donations in the current Congress.
Cruz was
clear at the top, with $442,000 donated to campaign organisations or political
action committees.
Axios
noted: “The figures are much higher if you count indirect contributions, like
the NRA’s purchase of attack ads against opponents.”
On Tuesday
morning in Uvalde, an 18-year-old shot his grandmother then entered Robb
elementary school and barricaded himself in a classroom.
After about
40 minutes, during which parents implored police to charge and tackle the
gunman, the assailant was killed by a Swat team.
On
Wednesday Cruz spoke to Mark Stone, US correspondent for Sky News, at a vigil
in Uvalde.
“There are
19 sets of parents who are never gonna get to kiss their child goodnight,” Cruz
said.
Stone
asked: “Is this the moment to reform gun laws?”
Cruz said:
“You know, it’s easy to go to politics.”
“But it’s
important,” Stone said. “It’s at the heart of the issue.”
“I get that
that’s where the media likes to go,” Cruz said.
Stone said
many people at the vigil wanted gun reform. National polling consistently shows
large majorities in support of such reform.
Cruz said
reform proposals came from “Democrats and the media, inevitably, when some
violent psychopath murders people”.
Stone
pointed out that the 18-year-old gunman in Uvalde was a “violent psychopath
who’s able to get a weapon so easily … two AR-15” assault rifles.
Cruz said:
“If you want to stop violent crime, the proposals the Democrats have, none of
them would have stopped this.”
Stone said:
“Many people around the world just cannot fathom, ‘Why only in America? Why is
this American exceptionalism so awful?’”
Cruz said:
“You know, I’m sorry you think American exceptionalism is awful.”
Stone said
he thought “this aspect of it” was awful.
Some of the
the victims of the attack: Left to right: Top; Irma Garcia, Rogelio Torres,
Tess Marie Mata, Eva Mireles. Middle; Jose Flores, Nevaeh Bravo, Eliahana Cruz
Torres, Makenna Lee Elrod. Bottom; Annabelle Guadalupe Rodriguez, Uziyah
Garcia, Xavier Lopez, Amerie Jo Garza
‘He was
just a loving little boy’: the victims of the Texas school shooting
Read more
“You’ve got
your political agenda,” Cruz said, putting his hands on the reporter’s
shoulders, saying “God love you” and walking away.
Stone and
another reporter pursued, asking, “I just want to understand why you do not
think that guns are the problem in America” and “Why is America the only
country that makes this kind of mass shooting?”
Stone said:
“You can’t answer that, can you, sir?”
Cruz
turned. Leaning close to the reporter and jabbing his finger, he said: “Why is
it that people come from all over the world to America? Because it’s the
freest, most prosperous, safest country on earth.
“And save
me the propaganda.”
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