Senator Ted Cruz (R-TX) blamed Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY) for his struggles in his reelection race this year during an appearance on Life, Liberty & Levin over the weekend.
“The Senate Leadership Fund is controlled by Mitch McConnell. He raises hundreds of millions of dollars in that fund to assist Senate candidates,” observed Levin. “Last time you ran, it was very close, two, two and a half percent [margin] you won. McConnell wouldn’t give your campaign a plug nickel. I assume he’s giving your campaign money now because he wants to control the Senate, yes?”
“Sadly no, not a penny. So Mitch McConnell runs the largest Republican Super PAC in the country and has $400 million. But that Super PAC is used to reward the Republican senators who obey him and to punish those who dare to stand up to him,” replied Cruz. “So, as you noted, 2018 I was in what was at the time the most expensive Senate race in U.S. history. I was being outspent 3 to 1. He had $300 million, he spent zero in Texas. I won anyway, but barely, by less than three points. This time around he has $400 million — I’m being massively outspent again. Schumer spending millions. And yet he’s [McConnell] spent zero.”
He continued:
And by the way, he does the same thing for any other senator. So Ron Johnson in 2016 in Wisconsin had a very tough, competitive race. Mitch spent zero to support him. Ron won anyway. Mike Lee in 2022 had an unexpectedly tight race in Utah. Again, Mitch spent zero to support him because, and you know: People wonder at home, “How come no Republicans stand up and have courage and stand up to Mitch and leadership?” And the answer is, if you stand up and say, “No,” it costs you 10 or 20 or 30 or even $40 million. Where I’m not willing to just obey his orders, which means the only way I survive is the viewers of this show, patriots across the country going to tedcruz.org giving generously so that we have the resources to communicate with the voters.
“It is disgusting to me what Mitch McConnell does and has done,” commented Levin. “It’s disgusting to me, the Republican ruling class — Liz Cheney comes into Texas, campaigns against you, endorses your radical left-wing opponent, endorses Harris. These people are just so appalling to me, it’s unbelievable.”
The Senate Leadership Fund tends to spend money on the most competitive races across the country rather than what should be safe incumbent seats. It spent a little over $2 million on behalf of Senator Ron Johnson (R-WI) in 2016 and over $26 million on his 2022 reelection bid, despite Cruz’s claims.
It did not spend money on Lee in 2022 or Cruz in either of his last two races, but it also didn’t make any expenditures on behalf of Senator John Cornyn (R-TX), a McConnell ally, in 2020.
On Monday, Cruz returned to Fox’s airwaves on Monday to ask for donations and claim to be Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer’s (D-NY) “number one target in the county.”
Watch above via Fox News.
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