A rattled Ted Cruz gave a grim assessment on the future of the GOP in an emotional Fox News appearance after a series of disastrous electoral results for Republicans.
Appearing on Hannity the day after Democrats swept key races across the country—including Zohran Mamdani’s win as mayor of New York City—the Texas senator didn’t sugarcoat his words.
“Look, last night was a disaster,” Cruz said flatly. “It was an electoral blowout. The results in New Jersey were disastrous. The results in Virginia were terrible. The results in New York—Comrade Mamdani is the face of the Democrat party.”
The comment came after Sean Hannity opened Wednesday’s segment by lamenting what he called “a disaster of a night” for conservatives. “My New York friends are officially depressed and scared,” Hannity said, referring to the election of Mamdani, a 34-year-old democratic socialist who will be New York City’s first Muslim mayor.
It was indeed a brutal showing for the GOP. Democrats flipped Virginia’s governorship and added 13 seats to their majority in the state’s House of Delegates. They held the New Jersey governorship, kept all three seats on the Pennsylvania Supreme Court, and in California voters approved a ballot measure that lets the Democratic-controlled legislature redraw congressional districts to favor their own party.
Cruz, shaking his head, said it was a wake-up call. “Last night should be a warning sign. It should be a warning sign to Republicans across this country,” he said. “The left, they’re energized. They’re angry. Democrats are outraising Republicans right now, three to one, four to one. It is dangerous.”
He warned that GOP complacency could turn a bad week into a catastrophe. “I think on our side, there are Republicans, and there are just people who are commonsense in the middle, who I fear are feeling happy or feeling potentially complacent,” Cruz continued. “That is really, really dangerous. The left showed up in big numbers last night, and commonsense conservatives did not. If that happens a year from now, we face disaster in the midterms.”
Cruz also took aim at Mamdani personally, calling him “a jihadist”—language that echoed right-wing talking points against the newly elected mayor, who has drawn conservative ire for his support of Palestinian rights.
“We have an actual communist jihadist,” he continued. “It’s important to note, Mamdani is not a socialist. He is a full-on communist. He has called for seizing the means of production in our economy. He is a Marxist. That is profoundly dangerous. And look, I know there’s some Republicans who are saying, ‘Well, gosh, this’ll be good politically because he’ll be the face of the Democrat party.’ I think it’s terrible for America. I think New York is the largest city in America, it is the financial capital of the world, it is the media capital of the world. And New York, we are going to see New Yorkers die.”
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