Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Texas) was mercilessly mocked Wednesday for an embarrassing gaffe in which he declared, “Let’s stop attacking pedophiles” during a hearing about crime in Democrat-run cities.
The firebrand conservative was giving an impassioned speech about a “bipartisan agreement” to make Democrat-run cities safer Tuesday when he stumbled over his words.
“How about we all come together and say ‘Let’s stop murders,’” Cruz, 54, urged at the Senate hearing. “How about we all come together and say ‘Let’s stop rape.’ How about we all come together and say ‘Let’s stop attacking pedophiles.”
Cruz didn’t stop to correct himself and quickly switched to praising President Trump’s decision to deploy the National Guard in Washington, D.C.
Critics quickly pounced on Cruz for the blunder with some linking the comment to ongoing conspiracies that there are dark truths being hidden in files about now-deceased pedophile Jeffrey Epstein.
“No! How about you all stop protecting them. Release the Epstein files, NOW!,” one X user wrote.
“This is an insane Freudian slip,” another user slammed while a third posted an image of a hat featuring the words “PEDOPHILIA IS OK NOW.”
Others poked fun of Cruz’s gaffe, quipping sarcastically that attacking pedophiles is, “mean, guys, let them be.”
Earlier in the hearing — titled “Blue City Chaos and Tragedy: How the Trump Administration is Addressing the Human Cost of Soft On Crime Policies” — Cruz echoed remarks that Sen. Cory Booker floated last week.
“Sen. Booker also said we should have bipartisan agreement. I think that’s a great idea—we should have bipartisan agreement,”Cruz said, referencing Booker’s comments urging Republicans to work in a “bipartisan way” to promote safety.
Cruz, who appears to have meant “let’s stop pedophiles,” had not issued a statement correcting the comments as of Wednesday morning.
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