The chairwoman of the Democratic National Committee called Ted Cruz a “disgrace” for calling on police to patrol Muslim neighborhoods in an effort to combat Islamic extremists.
“His comments today were worse than opportunistic and inappropriate politicking in the wake of the terrible tragedy in Brussels — they were a shameful display of hate that only serves to foment anger and make the world less secure,” said Rep. Debbie Wasserman Schultz, D-Fla., in a statement. “Barely before the smoke had cleared, he declared that – here in the United States – we should institute police patrols in Muslim neighborhoods.”
She added, “This is not leadership; it is fear-mongering for political gain.”
She then expanded her critique to the “sad state of Republican leadership today,” whose “hateful and divisive rhetoric of the GOP’s presidential candidates seems to reach new lows each day.”
“We need to elect a commander-in-chief with the temperament and judgment to respond wisely to the threat of terrorism and global unrest, not a demagogue who defaults to militaristic escalation and racial or religious profiling,” Wasserman Schultz concluded.
Democratic candidate Hillary Clinton also took a stab at Cruz, telling Muslims Americans “this is your country too.”
“These kinds of proposals are dangerous, hateful, and beneath us,” she tweeted.
Early Tuesday, terrorist attacks in Brussels involving two explosions left at least 31 people dead and 170 injured. It was later reported that the Islamic State took credit for the attacks.
In a statement posted to Facebook, Cruz said the attacks were not “isolated incidents.”
“They are just the latest in a string of coordinated attacks by radical Islamic terrorists perpetrated by those who are waging war against all who do not accept their extreme strain of Islam,” he added.
In a separate post, the Texas senator called on the U.S. to “redouble” its efforts to make sure the terrorist attack that occurred in Brussels isn’t repeated on American soil.
“We need to immediately halt the flow of refugees from countries with a significant al Qaida or ISIS presence,” Cruz said. That echoes other Republican arguments after terror attacks in Paris in November, after it was discovered some of the attackers gained access to Europe through the flow of refugees entering the European Union.
“We need to empower law enforcement to patrol and secure Muslim neighborhoods before they become radicalized,” Cruz said, adding that the southern border also needs to be secured in order to prevent “terrorist infiltration.”
Cruz concluded by saying the U.S. needs “to execute a coherent campaign to utterly destroy ISIS. The days of the United States voluntarily surrendering to the enemy to show how progressive and enlightened we can be are at an end. Our country is at stake.”
