In an editorial board interview this week with the Washington Examiner, Sen. Ted Cruz., R-Texas, referred to the Harvey Weinstein sexual harassment scandal and coined the well-known maxim that politics is Hollywood for ugly people.

The resemblance is real enough. “You get men and women with positions of power,” Cruz said. “Sometimes cloaked in relative anonymity, in a workplace where the [power differential] between them and their employees is significant … And a culture that tells too many politicians they can do nothing wrong. Being a senator, you go to parties, and all your jokes are funny. Suddenly, you’re handsome and witty and wise. That culture, unfortunately, encourages abuse of power. And for a long time, there were no significant efforts to hold people accountable for that.”