About
Ted Cruz (R-Texas) is a far-right politician from Houston who was first elected to the U.S. Senate in 2012 and likes to make controversial claims that attract media attention (such as that Democrats “hate” Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas because he’s Black or that President Biden’s “mental faculties are too diminished” for him to negotiate about the debt ceiling).
In 2016, Cruz ran for president but lost the Republican nomination to Trump. After having repeatedly disparaged him on the campaign trail—calling him “nuts,” a “pathological liar,” and “utterly amoral,” among other apt descriptors—the senator then endorsed his rival for president.
As a junior senator, Cruz first gained notoriety after staging a 21-hour filibuster in 2012 to protest passage of the Affordable Care Act (Obamacare). Although he denies his role, his filibuster, along with stalling by House Republicans, ultimately led to a government shutdown in 2013.
Before entering politics, Cruz earned a law degree at Harvard. He then went on to work as an advisor in the George W. Bush administration before “promoting himself and conservative causes” as the Texas solicitor general from 2003–08.
After the 2020 presidential election, Cruz followed Trump’s lead and adhered to the GOP playbook by casting doubt on the legitimacy of the process and making claims of fraud unfounded by facts. He objected to certifying the Electoral College results and voted against impeaching Trump for inciting the mob, among other measures.
January 6, 2021
- Just before Trump told the armed crowd at the March to Save America rally to proceed to the Capitol, Cruz urged fellow Republicans to vote against certifying the 2020 presidential election results. “I wanna speak to the Republicans that are considering voting against these objections,” the senator said. “I understand your concerns, but I urge you to pause and think ‘what does it say to the nearly half the country that believes the election was rigged if we vote not even to consider the claims of illegality and fraud in this election?’”
- Cruz called on his colleagues to postpone certifying the election in favor of appointing a special commission to audit the results. A few days earlier, he had discussed the plan to derail the certification process with Fox News producer Abby Grossberg and Fox Business host Maria Bartiromo, according to a recording of the conversation obtained by the Washington Post in April 2023.
- Just hours after the violent attack on the Capitol disrupted the proceedings, Cruz joined 146 other congressional Republicans in voting to overturn the election results.
- On February 13, 2021, Cruz voted against impeaching Trump for his role in inciting the riot at the Capitol that sought to prevent the congressional certification process underway and led to the death of five people and serious injuries to scores more.
- On Jan. 5, 2022, a year after the insurrection, Cruz described the event as “a violent terrorist attack”—but then quickly backtracked and the next day apologized on the Fox News show Tucker Carlson Tonight, calling the Jan. 6 rioters “patriots.”
The Big Lie
- After the 2020 election, Cruz repeatedly echoed Trump’s unfounded claim that the election had been stolen. For example, while votes were still being counted, he appeared on the Fox News show Hannity to sow doubt about the vote count in Pennsylvania. “What we’re seeing tonight, what we’ve been seeing the last three days is outrageous. It is partisan, it is political and it is lawless,” he said. “We’re seeing this pattern in Democratic city after Democratic city. But the worst in the country right now is Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, where they’re not allowing the election observers in, despite clear state law that requires election observers being there.” (This claim was also untrue since pro-Trump “election observers” were in the room where Philadelphia ballots were counted.)
- In one of many similar tweets, Cruz wrote on Nov. 6, 2020 that Democrats were “breaking the law, ignoring court orders, counting ballots in secret & threatening to steal the presidency.”
- When his claims about poll watchers being denied access were refuted on Nov. 6, 2020, Cruz alleged in a tweet that “someone 20 ft away—forced to use binoculars—is not an ‘observer’ under the law. Not if they can’t see what ballot counters are actually doing.”
- On Nov. 8, 2020, in appearing on the Fox News program Sunday Morning Futures, Cruz said that the results of the election were unclear and “the media is desperately trying to get everyone to coronate Joe Biden as the next president.”
- On Nov. 10, 2020, Cruz issued a press release with the headline: “THE MAINSTREAM MEDIA DOESN’T WANT TO LET PROCESS PLAY OUT.” In the statement, the senator highlighted two media appearances in which he voiced support for election challenges. One featured quotation from his appearance on the right-wing talk radio show with Hugh Hewitt reads: “An awful lot of the media is trying to stop the process early and say, ‘Never mind what the courts say. Never mind what the law says. We want to declare Biden the winner now.’”
- On Dec. 1, 2020, Cruz issued a statement urging the Supreme Court to hear the Texas v. Pennsylvania lawsuit challenging the results of the election. “Ordinarily, the U.S. Supreme Court would stay out of election disputes, especially concerning state law. But these are not ordinary times,” he wrote. “As of today, according to Reuters/Ipsos polling, 39% of Americans believe that ‘the election was rigged.’”
- On Dec. 8, 2020, at Trump’s request, Cruz agreed to argue the Texas case to overturn the election if the Supreme Court agreed to consider it.
- At a campaign event in Georgia days before the Capitol attack, Cruz asked supporters, “Are they going to try to steal? Yes, but I’ll tell you what we’re going to do. We’re going to win by a big enough margin. Ain’t nobody stealing the state of Georgia.”
- After President Biden’s inauguration, Cruz continued to peddle the lie that the election had been stolen. He brought up the idea of fraud frequently to justify opposing the Voting Rights Act that Democrats were working to pass. For example, on Dec. 16, 2021, Cruz tweeted that “Democrats have decided that voter fraud is good for them politically.” Attached was a clip from a recent appearance on Fox’s Kudlow where he argued in favor of voter identification laws that keep many eligible citizens from voting and adversely impact poor and minority voters in particular.
- Cruz has made a variety of statements that continue to call into question the results of the 2020 election, has supported voting restriction laws enacted by Republican state legislatures around the country, and voted against the 2021 Freedom to Vote Act.
Top contributors for the 2020 election cycle.
The organizations themselves did not donate, rather the money came from the organization's PAC, its individual members or employees or owners, and those individuals' immediate families.
| Organization Name | Total | PACs | Individuals |
|---|---|---|---|
| Bluewater International | $16,800.00 | $0.00 | $16,800.00 |
| Doggett Industries | $16,800.00 | $0.00 | $16,800.00 |
| Hilcorp Energy | $15,100.00 | $0.00 | $15,100.00 |
| Boeing Co | $11,652.00 | $5,000.00 | $6,652.00 |
| Lodge Lumber | $11,650.00 | $0.00 | $11,650.00 |
| Southwest Airlines Pilots Assn | $11,500.00 | $11,500.00 | $0.00 |
| Carnival Corp | $11,220.00 | $0.00 | $11,220.00 |
| ALLCare Alliance Group | $11,200.00 | $0.00 | $11,200.00 |
| Apollo Global Management | $11,200.00 | $0.00 | $11,200.00 |
| Ariel Corp | $11,200.00 | $0.00 | $11,200.00 |