The only thing that would keep Ted Cruz from supporting the GOP’s fear-mongering bigot-in-chief Donald Trump is if the racist promoter of violence were to “go out on 5th Avenue and shoot somebody.”
Trump started using xenophobic, anti-immigrant and anti-Muslim rhetoric months ago. He’s only escalated things since then, and has now begun inciting his supporters to physically and verbally assault protesters. But none of that has caused the rest of the Republican field to meaningfully denounce him.
Ted Cruz, Marco Rubio, and John Kasich have each cowardly refused to revoke their support for his candidacy — and that means they’re standing by the xenophobia, hatred, oppression, and violence he’s promoting.
Here’s a sample of Cruz, Rubio, and Kasich’s political cowardice:
Ted Cruz:
- The “criticism”:
- “When you have a campaign that disrespects the voters, when you have a campaign that affirmatively encourages violence, you create an environment that only encourages this sort of nastiness.”
- The statement of support:
- Cruz said he will continue to support Trump unless “he were to go out on 5th Avenue and shoot somebody.“
Marco Rubio:
- The “criticism”:
- “I think that all the gates of civility have been blown apart….This is not about political correctness. This is about rules of civility and the way a society talks to each other.”
- “It’s getting harder every day to justify that statement [supporting Trump]to myself, to my children, to my family, and to the people that support me.”
- The statement of support:
- But there’s also this: “I still at this moment continue to intend to support the Republican nominee.”
John Kasich:
- The “criticism”:
- “There’s no question that Donald Trump has created a toxic atmosphere, pitting one group against another.”
- The statement of support:
- “Kasich wouldn’t say what Trump would have to do to disqualify himself from the nomination.“
Published: Mar 14, 2016