Two of Texas’s leading newspapers have called for the resignation of Senator Ted Cruz following his involvement in challenging the certification of the 2020 election results.
The Houston Chronicle’s editorial board published a scathing piece on Friday, blaming the Texas senator for his role in encouraging the pro-Trump riots that took place at the US Capitol on 6 January.
Ted Cruz “knew exactly what he was doing, what he was risking and who he was inciting as he stood on the Senate floor Wednesday and passionately fed the farce of election fraud even as a seething crowd of believers was being whipped up by President Trump a short distance away,” the editorial board wrote.
“Cruz had helped spin that web of deception and now he was feigning concern that millions of Americans had gotten caught up in it,” the editorial read.
“We’re done with drama, opportunism, cynical scheming that has now cost American lives,” it continued. “Resign and deliver Texas from the shame of calling you our senator.”
Meanwhile, San Antonio Express-News called for the removal of Cruz from office, accusing the Texas Republican of being responsible for the assault on the Capitol.
“It was Cruz who gathered support of other senators and senators-elect to object to the formal counting of electoral votes, not because there was voter fraud but because of the “allegations of voter fraud, violations and lax enforcement of election law, and other voting irregularities.”
It was Cruz who cynically said to Democrats on the Senate floor before the mob descended: “I understand your guy is winning right now.”
“If we seek a turning point in support of democracy, then those who have damaged it must be sanctioned and repudiated,” the Express-News editorial board wrote.