.@tedcruz: “The reaction of Democrats to any tragedy is to try to politicize it. So they immediately start calling that we’ve got to take away the Second Amendment rights of law-abiding citizens.” pic.twitter.com/SXx7bXWQiO
— Fox News (@FoxNews) February 15, 2018
After a gunman opened fire at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, Florida, Senator Ted Cruz (R-TX) blamed Democrats for bringing the tragic events into the political landscape. This comes just months after Cruz himself did the same thing after another attack.
“The reaction of Democrats to any tragedy is to try to politicize it,” Cruz said on Fox & Friends. “So they immediately start calling that we’ve got to take away the Second Amendment rights of law-abiding citizens. That’s not the right answer.”
Cruz was referring to comments from various political figures after the attack, which left 17 people dead, rekindled debate of stronger gun control.
Our schools should be a place where students and teachers feel safe. How many more senseless tragedies does this country have to endure until Congress acts? https://t.co/QU5AE6LVzR
— Senator Cortez Masto (@SenCortezMasto) February 14, 2018
For example, Senator Catherine Cortez Masto (D-NV) wrote on Twitter, “How many more senseless tragedies does this country have to endure until Congress acts?”
Countering this sentiment, Cruz warned that gun control wouldn’t work. He recalled meeting with victims of a mass shooting in Southerland, Texas last year. “When I was at the hospital with the victims, with the victims’ families, over and over again what they said to me in Texas – they said gun control is not the answer here,” Cruz said.
His statements against bringing politics into the discussion go against what he said in October, after an Uzbek immigrant drove into a crowd of people on the streets of Manhattan injuring over two dozen people and killing eight, he had a much different reaction. When the issue of immigration came up, Cruz recommended quick and sweeping action.
“While details are still emerging, we do know that the attacker was admitted to the U.S. by what is called the ‘Diversity Lottery,’ which in fact does very little to promote diversity and I believe establishes an arbitrary, unjustified means to provide a path to the precious privilege of U.S. citizenship,” he said in a statement released the morning after the attack. “I have long opposed this program and agree with the President that we should examine how to move forward with ending it.”
[Image via Fox News screengrab]
