Advertisement

One-time Trump critic Ted Cruz explains why he’s mum on numerous White House scandals

"I've got nothing to say about it."

Sen. Ted Cruz (R-TX)
Sen. Ted Cruz (R-TX) on Wednesday. CREDIT: MSNBC screenshot

After calling candidate Donald Trump a “pathological liar” and “narcissist” during the 2016 presidential campaign, one might have thought that Sen. Ted Cruz (R-TX) would have emerged as a critic of the president’s mounting ethical issues. He has not — and in an unusually candid comment on Wednesday, he made it clear why.

Asked about the chaotic Trump presidency on MSNBC’s Morning Joe, Cruz said that he simply ignores the chaos and scandal because he cares more about taking away people’s Obamacare.

“The approach that I’ve tried to follow in the Senate is to ignore the chaos,” he explained. “I won’t comment on Tweets. I won’t comment on the random comment of the day. Whatever the scandal du jour is, I’ve got nothing to say about it.”

Cruz’s admission is remarkable considering that a core function of the Congress is oversight of the executive branch.

Instead, he simply focuses on conservative policy wins. “I think despite the political circus of Washington, it’s remarkable. The tax cut was historic. The successes on regulatory reform. Repealing the Obamacare individual mandate, which I helped lead the effort to get done, was a remarkable victory.” Cruz said.

Watch:

While many Congressional Republicans have taken Cruz’s tack of refusing to conduct any oversight over Trump and his administration’s illegal activities, few have been as open about it.

Advertisement

When Democrat Barack Obama was president, Cruz frequently complained about the “scandal du jour,” even demanding a special prosecutor to investigate.