Cruz: Fundraising text sent during attack not intentional
While President Donald Trump’s supporters were storming the U.S. Capitol, U.S. Sen. Ted Cruz’s campaign launched a fundraising text to supporters trumpeting the senator’s fight to delay the congressional votes that would finalize Trump’s loss.
In a Twitter exchange Thursday night with Democratic U.S. Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-cortez, the Houston Republican said the text was an automated fundraising message that many campaigns typically send out.
“When the attack happened, w/ in minutes I told my team to halt fundraising,” Cruz wrote at OcasioCortez on Twitter after she sent a copy of the fundraising text message to her 11.3 million followers on the social media platform.
Earlier in the day, Ocasio-cortez slammed Cruz for his attempt to slow down the certification of Joe Biden’s victory just moments before Trump supporters broke through Capitol Hill security and forced the House and Senate to abandon their chambers.
“Sen. Cruz, youmust accept responsibility for how your craven, self-serving actions contributed to the deaths of four people yesterday,” the New York congresswoman wrote. “And howyou fundraised off it.”
When Cruz responded by calling her a liar, she posted the text message from Cruz asking supporters for donations.
“Ted Cruz here. I’m leading the fight to reject electors from key states unless there is an emergency audit of the election results,” the message read. “Will you stand with me?” The text was followed by a link to his fundraising page.
Ocasio-cortez told Cruz in the lengthy Twitter exchange, “Oh, you’re accusing me of lying? Isn’t this you? Your campaign sent out this fundraising message as people were sieging the Capitol.”
Cruz responded that her lie was saying his call for an election commission to review the election results was somehowresponsible for the violence.
Hours earlier, Cruz put out a statement calling the Capitol attack “a despicable act of terrorism and a shocking assault on our democratic system.” In the same statement, he stood by his decision to push for an electoral commission to examine the results.
“Millions of Americans who have peacefully expressed their deep concerns regarding election integrity deserve to have their voices heard,” he said. “It was the right thing to do.”
That message prompted Ocasio-cortez to call on Cruz and Sen. Josh Hawley of Missouri to resign.
In a retort, Cruz made it clear there was no chance of that.
“And sorry, I ain’t going anywhere.”