Ted Cruz dubbed a ‘weaselly coward’ for grovelling apology to Tucker Carlson over Jan 6 comments

Senator Ted Cruz tried to explain away remarks he made a day earlier by issuing a grovelling apology on Tucker Carlson’s Fox News programme – but the host did not let him off the hook easily and the Texas Republican was lambasted on Twitter.

Mr Cruz had on Wednesday called the storming of the Capitol last 6 January “a violent terrorist attack” and Mr Carlson publicly took him to task for the word choice.

The Texan claimed on Fox on Thursday that he was referring to those who assaulted police officers during the chaotic incident and insisted he’d for years used the word “terrorist” to describe anyone who’d attacked cops.

“You and I both agree that if you assault a police officer, you should go to jail,” Mr Cruz told Mr Carlson. “I wasn’t saying that the thousands of peaceful protesters supporting Donald Trump are somehow terrorists. I wasn’t saying the millions of patriots across the country supporting President Trump are terrorists. And that’s what a lot of people have misunderstood.”

He continued: “I used that word in 2020 for the Antifa and BLM terrorists that assaulted cops and firebombed police cars, but I agree it was a mistake to use the word because the Democrats and the corporate media have so politicised it. They’re trying to paint everyone as a terrorist and it’s a lie.”

Mr Carlson challenged the senator’s explanation, pointing not only to his successful legal career but also his inclusion on a Supreme Court shortlist by Mr Trump.

“There are a lot of dumb people in Congress. You are not one of them,” Mr Carlson said, claiming the Texan was “smarter than I am. And you never use words carelessly”, Mr Carlson said. “And yet you call this a terror attack when by no definition was it a terror attack. That was a lie. You told that lie on purpose and I’m wondering why you did.”

Mr Carlson insisted there were numerous problems – including “moral” – with the use of the phrasing by Mr Cruz, whose attempts to explain away his statements proved fertile fodder for political opponents.

Social media went into a frenzy as the Texas Republican was mercilessly mocked, particularly by Democrats who enjoyed pointing out other times Mr Cruz declined to stand up for himself or his family.

Despite multiple verbal barbs and accusations by former President Trump, Mr Cruz threw his weight behind the controversial politician and was among the few Republicans vehemently disputing election results.

Philadelphia Rep Brendan Boyle on Twitter called the Texas senator “a sniveling little weaselly coward Ted Cruz is. That begs the question: is Ted Cruz the single biggest coward in DC? Or just one of the biggest? Tough call.”

California Congressman Eric Swalwell, also a Democrat, tweeted: “Are you surprised Ted Cruz just backed down from Tucker Carlson’s attack on him last night for Cruz calling January 6 a ‘terrorist attack?’ Cruz folded like a card table.

“We know Cruz won’t defend his wife but now he won’t even defend...Ted Cruz?”

Democrat Julian Castro, a former HUD secretary and 2020 presidential candidate, tweeted to his more than half-a-million followers that “Ted Cruz would apologize for breathing if it meant winning over the MAGA crowd.”

Mr Cruz repeated his apologies on Twitter and shared clips of the Fox interview. By Friday, however, he seemed to have moved on from the topic, tweeting about his introduction of legislation to allow states to purchase monoclonal antibodies and tweeting a link to a new episode of his podcast, Verdict with Ted Cruz.