Texas school shooting: Ted Cruz reacts to tragedy, responds to O'Rourke outburst
Texas Republican Sen. Ted Cruz joins 'Jesse Watters Primetime' with reaction and response, after former opponent interrupts press conference.
Sen. Ted Cruz, R-Texas, condemned his former senatorial opponent Wednesday for trying to turn a news conference on the shooting at Robb Elementary School in Uvalde, Texas, into a "political rally."
Cruz told "Jesse Watters Primetime" he was disgusted by the actions of former Rep. Beto O'Rourke, D-Texas, who is seeking to unseat GOP Gov. Greg Abbott.
O'Rourke approached the front of the room as Abbott was handing the microphone to Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick to continue providing information to the mourning public.
O'Rourke blamed Abbott for the shooting, saying, "it's totally predictable when you choose not to do anything."
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Sen. Ted Cruz, R-Texas. (Reuters)
Uvalde Mayor Don McLaughlin tore into O'Rourke, telling him he was "out of line."
"You're a sick son of a b---- to go to a deal like this to make a political issue," McLaughlin said, as another man yelled for the El Paso Democrat to "get the f--- out of here."
Cruz told Fox News there were victims' families in the auditorium when O'Rourke caused the commotion.
He recounted telling O'Rourke to "sit down" and praised McLaughlin for labeling him as he had, explaining the grieving families did not need to be witness to a raucous political episode after just losing their loved ones.
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O'Rourke berates Abbott, Patrick. (AP/Dario Lopez-Mills)
"I was shocked… it was disgusting." Cruz said. "To try to politicize it and turn it into a rally the way Beto did — I've seen a lot of crass behavior — that was embarrassing."
Cruz also dismissed attacks on the "gun lobby," as President Biden had put it, saying common sense reforms have been attempted in Congress to no avail thanks to Democratic filibuster.
"Every time I've stood up to fight, the Democrats literally filibuster, they block a vote," he said, adding that he was party to landmark 2013 legislation with Sen. Chuck Grassley, R-Iowa, which directed the Department of Justice to audit the federal convictions database and arrest felons who had tried to buy guns, among other endeavors.
O'Rourke (AP/Dario Lopez-Mills)
"That vote in the Harry Reid Democrat Senate — I got a majority. The Senate voted in favor of Grassley-Cruz, but the Democrats filibustered it. They demanded 60 votes," he added.
"They defeated it because they wanted to go after law-abiding citizens instead of stopping the bad guys."