Sen. Ted Cruz, R-Texas, said Wednesday the country has become “badly polarized and divided,” advising Americans rattled by pipe bombs sent to President Donald Trump’s political opponents “just count to 10 and calm down.”
In remarks aired on MSNBC’s “MTP” show, Cruz decried the spate of hate — and a political atmosphere that led to it.
“Violence is never okay, and it doesn't matter where on the political spectrum it comes,” he said, agreeing that politically motivated harassment and violence — including the shooting of Rep. Stephen Scalise, R-La., in June 2017 — has put the country in a “bad spot.”
“We're badly polarized and divided, and I wish everyone would just count to 10 and calm down,” he said.
“It doesn't mean we have to agree on substance,” he continued. “The democratic process is all about debating and figuring out what's the best policy. High taxes or low taxes, that's an important debate to have. But we need to do it with civility, we need to do it in a way that respects each other's decency and humanity.”
Cruz said the media “always focuses” on Trump, but that “there are too many Democratic politicians that are actively encouraging” confrontation and incivility.
“When [Rep.] Maxine Waters [D-Calif.] says go, harass, scream, yell, that's wrong. [Sen.] Cory Booker [D-N.J.] is a friend of mine, but when he says go get into people's faces and threaten them, that's not okay.”
He also said he found it “unfortunate” and “wrong” that Hillary Clinton said the country can only be civil after Democrats win.
He recounted that after the Senate passed the administration’s tax cut bill, one protester in the gallery screamed, “Stop killing people.”
“And I looked up, I mean completely puzzled,” he said. “I was tempted to go up and talk to the guy and say, ‘we just cut your taxes.’ But it really isn't killing you, cutting taxes isn't killing you, and you embrace that rhetoric, your cutting taxes is killing me. Then it becomes I've got to defend my life by attacking you…”
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