Not Ted Cruz
The Lincoln Project co-founder Rick Wilson said that now that former President Trump is out of office, he intends to turn the super PAC’s attention to Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Texas).
Wilson told the Texas politics-focused podcast “Y’all-itics” the group would target Cruz over his support of a Republican challenge to the certification of President Biden’s victory earlier this month.
“We all know Ted Cruz is sort of a political force of nature. He is what he is. You either hate him or you hate him,” Wilson said. “And he is a guy who went so far over the edge, not just to appease Donald Trump and Trump’s base, but because he felt like [Sen.] Josh Hawley (R-Mo.) had gotten out ahead of him on it.”
Hawley, who, like Cruz, is seen as a possible 2024 GOP contender, was the first to announce he would challenge the results of the election. A number of Republicans signed on to the challenge, but some of them dropped their objections after a mob of pro-Trump rioters stormed the U.S. Capitol. Cruz and Hawley continued their challenge.
Wilson called the effort “overtly seditious” and suggested the group would target other participants in the effort as well, saying “for as much as everyone sort of cordially hates Ted Cruz, this also about the fact there is a caucus of these guys right now.”
“These guys have realized that this was a very, very bad move legally, politically, morally, constitutionally and so that’s why they are in a position right now where they are not out beating their chest and saying ‘I am the alpha male in inheritor to the MAGA fortunes,’ ” he added.
Wilson went on to predict that the intraparty dispute over Trump’s continued role in the Republican party would lead to the emergence of a third party, adding “I think the traditional Republican, economic, social and fiscal conservatism is basically dead.”
A link to the podcast episode in question is here. It’s only about 25 minutes, and it’s hosted by a couple of reporters for WFAA in Dallas. (They tried and failed to get a response from Cruz, and have invited him on when he’s willing to talk to them.) The strategy in the short term is to cut off as much of Cruz’s corporate funding as possible, and to further isolate him in the Senate. I think what we’re all looking forward to is a barrage of take-no-prisoners anti-Cruz ads, for which there is ample raw material. 2024, the next time Cruz would be on the ballot, whether for Senate or President, is a long way off, and nothing is less certain in politics than that kind of long-range plan. But for now at least it’s out there.
Saw a comment in the linked article listing some of Trump’s tweets about Senator Cruz. Here is maybe a quarter of the list and they seem to be from during the primary campaign.:
ElGato • 8 days ago
Some of Trump’s tweeting about Cruz. LOL
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“Lyin’,” “really went wacko today,” “Made all sorts of crazy charges,” “Can’t function under pressure,” “not very presidential,” “Sad!” “Lyin’, he should drop out of the race-stop wasting time & money,” “Lyin’,” “can never beat Hilary Clinton,” “Lyin’, can never beat Hillary Clinton,” “has NO path to victory,” “Lyin’,” “mathematically dead and totally desperate,” “weak,” “desperate,” “has to team up with a guy who openly can’t stand him,” “Drop out LYIN’ Ted,” “all he can do is be a spoiler, never a nice thing to do,” “Lyin’,” “can’t win with the voters so he has to sell himself to the bosses,” “Hillary would destroy him,” “Lyin’,” “hates New York,” “Lyin’,” “will never be able to beat Hillary,” “Despite a rigged delegate system, I am hundreds of delegates ahead of him,” “Lyin’,” “can’t get votes (I am millions ahead of him),” “has to get his delegates from the Republican bosses,” “attacked New Yorkers and New York values- we don’t forget!” “weak,” “losing big,” “lyin’,” “just another dishonest politician,” “Lyin’,”
As for The Lincoln Project, they have exhibited passionate support for Biden-Harris during the election and continuing during the administration’s first 100 days, and now they are vigorously going after the seditionists. Samples available on their YouTube channel.
“As for The Lincoln Project, they have exhibited passionate support for Biden-Harris during the election and continuing during the administration’s first 100 days, and now they are vigorously going after the seditionists.”
This is absolutely true. So the one demographic that they appealed to, conservative Republicans that didn’t like Trump? Guess what? Those folks can now see that the LP wasn’t about being anti-Trump, it was about promoting globalism, liberalism, leftism, and all the other isms Biden is working on right now.
It’s always good to have more money thrown at your candidates, but R primary voters are now fully aware that the LP has nothing in common with them, and as the effects of Biden’s anti-American policies ripple, that will become even more clear.
For example, after decades of endless warring, R voters aren’t excited about re-invading Syria, which Biden has just done. Obviously, the LP supports that move, supports the US getting back to the good old days when we were dependent on OPEC for our oil and were constantly warring in the Middle East.
The Trump R party took on the mantle of the Peace Party, and in an ironic twist, the rioters of the BLM, who literally murdered American citizens and destroyed and looted billions of dollars of American owned property, are nominated for a Nobel Peace Prize….just like Obama, the war president.
I can imagine that the anti war left felt the same way about Code Pink, once it was clear that Code Pink wasn’t really anti-war, just anti-George Bush. They were noticeably silent when Obama took over and started new wars. Despite Cindy Sheehan’s protestations, it wasn’t really about war, it was just about electing Democrats. Wars became OK as soon as a D held the White House.
I sometimes see commenters saying not to trust anyone involved with The Lincoln Project because they built their careers cutting Democrats off at the knees and getting neocons elected. And so they did. That was then, this is now. The wrongness of military interventionism is now a majority position and I have to credit Trump for realizing that it applies to R voters as much as D voters before anyone else did. He also figured out that a big chunk of R voters want autocracy, not democracy. That’s what drove the Lincoln Project founders to reject the Trump GOP and create this interesting thing they are doing.
Wonder if the whiny Trump pushers, aside from Bill will bother to respond to his use of name-calling?
I’m not sure that R voters want autocracy.
I do know that Abraham Lincoln has been cancelled, and is being removed from the record due to his life stained by racism.
https://www.sfchronicle.com/local-politics/article/Abraham-Lincoln-was-once-a-hero-In-some-S-F-15798744.php
Biden is pressured by some leftists, but that is not his tendency, and, I see him as very similar to Trump policy wise. He has a travel ban, and his vaccine distribution plan is lifted from Trump. He has a buy American diktat. Both of them blathered on a lot about unity during their inaugural addresses. Biden did indirectly compare himself to Lincoln in his address, a bit of narcissism there, perhaps. Meet the new boss same as the old boss.
Not the same as the old boss. Biden isn’t going to rely on his gut to make decisions, he will listen to actual experts with knowledge of a topic.
Ross,
The same experts that say it’s better to move the Canadian tar sands oil by Warren Buffet’s railroad, than by a pipeline that is safer and more cost efficient? Same experts that advised the best course of action was to put energy workers out of work, without having ‘green new deal’ jobs ready for them, installing solar panels?
These experts sound a little vindictive….like their knowledge base is largely about how to take care of the big donor class while simultaneously creating more misery in a plandemic economy. I question experts who espouse putting people, including union workers, out of work, who work….OUTSIDE, in the fresh air.
Jason, it’s all relative. Changing school names seems like a very innocent idea compared to a Member of Congress claiming that space lasers were used to set California on fire.
Voter,
When the NVA defeated South Vietnam, the first thing they did was……change the name of Saigon. Then they rounded up anybody who had worked with or helped the US and put them in re-education camps. Really, a very innocent idea, actually.
And should I even bother to mention that Trump said this would happen when the whole statue toppling movement began, that our founding fathers and our great historical leaders, like Lincoln, would eventually be next? Remember how he was mocked for that prediction? Well, here we are, and here you are dutifully defending it.
Bill, how many indigenous place names did colonizers the world over re-name? HCM City was named Prey Nokor when it was part of the Khmer Empire, later was renamed Gia Dinh by the Vietnamse, then the invading French dubbed it Sài Gòn, which then became Saigon. The San Francisco school renaming isn’t a done deal and has provoked intense opposition in the city, and the decision could well be reversed because, surprise, the city is in a nation blessed with democracy and that process is very unlike the renaming of Saigon, which was imposed and not debated. I’m not defending anything by comparing the RELATIVE rationality of the SF school renaming effort with the batshit crazy ravings of Rep. MTG. For the record, I would leave the school names alone but I’m not a resident of SF so my opinion is just an outsider’s opinion, same as yours is just an outsider’s opinion.