Sen. Ted Cruz (R-TX) slammed his Republican colleagues on Friday for failing to denounce Tucker Carlson amid the fallout from the conservative pundit’s interview with Nick Fuentes, a white nationalist who has contributed to the recent rise in antisemitism online.
“My colleagues, almost to a person, think what is happening is horrible, but a great many of them are frightened because he has one hell of a big megaphone,” Cruz said of Carlson at the Federalist Society’s National Lawyers Convention in Washington, D.C.
The senator has ramped up his criticism of the former Fox News host ever since Fuentes appeared on The Tucker Carlson Show last week. The two-hour-plus interview was characterized by Carlson’s failure to directly challenge Fuentes’s points. Carlson’s treatment of Fuentes on the show was in direct contrast to the pundit’s heated interview with Cruz in June.
The fallout from the Carlson-Fuentes interview has been notable, as it has led to several resignations at the Heritage Foundation. The conservative think tank was caught in the right-wing backlash when its president, Kevin Roberts, defended Carlson while decrying the “venomous coalition” attacking his “close friend.” Roberts later apologized for the “venomous coalition” comment.
“Their attempt to cancel [Carlson] will fail,” he said in a video on Oct. 30. “I disagree with, and even abhor, things that Nick Fuentes says, but canceling him is not the answer either. When we disagree with a person’s thoughts and opinions, we challenge those ideas and debate.”
Cruz argued Carlson didn’t challenge Fuentes enough on his antisemitic claims.
“The last I checked, Tucker actually knows how to cross-examine,” he said, referring to his conversation with Carlson.
The Texas Republican previously spoke about this very issue at last weekend’s Republican Jewish Coalition annual summit in Las Vegas, where he described antisemitism as a “poison” and an “existential crisis in our party and in our country.” He also charged his fellow Republicans to speak out, saying each one is a “coward” if “you say nothing.”
“Too many people are scared to confront it,” Cruz said of the surge in antisemitism on the right side of the aisle. “How many elected Republicans do you see standing up and calling this out?”
“I am committed to calling out this garbage. I am committed to fighting this garbage,” he added. “And I am committed to going to young people and saying, ‘These are poisonous lies.'”
TED CRUZ HEAPS CRITICISM ON TUCKER CARLSON OVER NICK FUENTES INTERVIEW
The senator noted that while he doesn’t have a problem with Carlson and Fuentes exercising their First Amendment rights, others have an “obligation to stand up and say it is wrong.”
“It’s easy right now to denounce Fuentes,” he said to the audience. “Are you willing to say Tucker’s name?”
