Sen. Ted Cruz believes Trump’s stances on criminal justice and police reform have protected civil liberties.
In an interview with the Washington Examiner this week, the Texas Republican, who co-hosts the Verdict podcast with conservative commentator Michael Knowles, said the GOP’s stance on criminal justice and police reform laid out by President Trump isn’t a more moderate approach, but one that prioritizes civil rights.
“I think we should defend the Constitution and the Bill of Rights. That means we should defend civil liberties. I’m a civil libertarian,” Cruz began. “For those of us who love liberty, government power is dangerous. Much of human history has been the jackboot of government power oppressing the people. And so when it comes to civil liberties, there’s a reason why I’ve stood up, for example, to unjustified government surveillance of U.S. citizens. Because the government doesn’t have the right to surveil you without probable cause, without evidence of a crime.”
Following the Memorial Day death of George Floyd, Senate Republicans attempted to pass the JUSTICE Act, which would have mostly banned chokeholds, expanded the use of body cameras, and require full reporting of deaths and injuries in police custody among other items. However, Democrats later blocked the legislation, with Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer saying the reforms didn’t go far enough to end racial bias.
Cruz, who co-sponsored the bill spearheaded by South Carolina Sen. Tim Scott, said the Republican-led bill had many positive elements and defended civil rights.
“The word that we’re talking about is justice, which the father of our Constitution James Madison said is the end of government. And so, we have these reform bills put up like the JUSTICE Act. You have the president famously tweeting out law and order, a lot of people calling for law and order,” Knowles said, adding that he believes the distinction between Republicans and Democrats on the matter is justice and injustice.
“And so people might quibble over the details of how to have that justice, but let’s not forget the alternative,” he continued. “The alternative that we’re talking about is defunding the police in the name of racial justice, ironically in mostly minority communities.”
Trump also signed an executive order on police reform last month that sets guidelines for police departments to meet certain standards on the use of force, including chokeholds, if they want access to federal grants. It also creates a federal database of officers for police misconduct.
Earlier this month, Axios reported that the president regrets following the policy advice of his son-in-law and adviser Jared Kushner, among those include criminal justice reform. The report cited individuals who spoke with Trump on the issue, claiming Kushner’s advice either politically harmed him or caused him to abandon his instincts.
However, White House press secretary Kayleigh McEnany said, “President Trump is very proud of the historic work that he’s done to benefit all communities. The First Step Act made historic strides toward rectifying racial disparities in sentencing while his executive order to secure America’s streets works with our nation’s heroic police officers to ensure we have safe policing and safe communities.”
