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Watch Ted Cruz Literally Beg Tucker Carlson for Forgiveness

Cruz was spanked for calling the Jan. 6 Capitol riot a “violent terrorist attack.”
Cameron Joseph
Washington, US
Senator Ted Cruz, a Republican from Texas, speaks during a hearing in Washington, D.C., on Wednesday, Dec. 15, 2021.​
Senator Ted Cruz, a Republican from Texas, speaks during a hearing in Washington, D.C., on Wednesday, Dec. 15, 2021. (Chip Somodevilla / Getty Images / Bloomberg via Getty Images)

Sen. Ted Cruz found out for the 450,156th time on Thursday that he will never be rewarded for being diet MAGA, and groveled for forgiveness from Fox News host Tucker Carlson for calling the Jan. 6 Capitol riot a “violent terrorist attack” one day earlier.

The Texas Republican drew fierce blowback from Carlson, who has called the Jan. 6 Capitol riot a “false flag” operation, and other far-right figures for saying on Wednesday that Jan. 6 marked the “an anniversary of a violent terrorist attack on the Capitol.”

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“The way I phrased things yesterday, it was sloppy, and it was frankly dumb,” a shamefaced Cruz told Carlson Thursday night.

Carlson wasn’t having any of it, correctly pointing out that Cruz is about as disciplined in choosing his words as any politician in existence.

“You take words as seriously as any man who's ever served in the Senate. And every word you repeated—that phrase, I do not believe that you use that accidentally. I just don't,” Carlson shot back.

Cruz’s full self-flagellation shows how much the conservative movement has embraced efforts to downplay and dismiss the attacks on the Capitol, how firm a grip former President Donald Trump and his allies maintain over the GOP—and how little use they have for Republicans who split with Trump in any way.

Cruz tried to argue that he only meant the most violent rioters in the crowd who attacked police, not every one of the rioters, but Carlson wasn’t having any of it, insisting that even those people weren’t terrorists even though the Department of Justice has classified more than 150 of the cases they’re investigating as “domestic terrorism” and 45 defendants have already been charged with depredation of federal property, which is on the terrorism list.

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Cruz’s mea culpa came after he spent a day getting hammered by figures from Trumpworld. Former Trump advisers Steve Bannon and Seb Gorka both blasted him for the remarks, and Carlson followed with a full segment ripping into Cruz:

This apology marks just the latest time that Cruz has tried to woo the pro-Trump MAGA base only to have them reject him as soon as he says anything they disagree with. Cruz played a key role in normalizing Trump during the 2016 presidential primary, inviting Trump to a rally and bear-hugging him for months as Trump continued his rise in the polls, with the hope that at some point Trump would fail and Cruz would be able to swoop in and win over Trump’s supporters. 

Cruz’s reward was getting torn apart by Trump at the end of the primary, with Trump mocking his wife’s appearance, nicknaming him “Lyin’ Ted,” and claiming his dad assassinated President John F. Kennedy. Cruz was booed at the Republican National Convention for refusing to support Trump during his 2016 speech—then shamefacedly circled back to endorse Trump anyways later that summer after being scolded by his biggest donors. 

The Texas senator became a loyal Trump lapdog through most of his presidency, and led the efforts to block Joe Biden’s election certification on Jan. 6 in the Senate in an effort to further burnish his reputation with the MAGA base. But the recent right-wing freakout over Cruz’s relatively tepid comments shows exactly how little real goodwill Cruz has with Trump’s hardcore base—and how little tolerance they have for any form of dissent.

“The establishment will never love you,” Florida MAGA GOP Rep. Matt Gaetz said when asked about Cruz’s comments on Thursday. “You can bend over bended knee for them, but they're just not going to love you. I think that was maybe an effort by the good senator… to recast himself in the eyes of some of the folks in your profession, but we didn't find it particularly factual or sincere.”

Cruz continues to operate on the assumption that he will be the GOP nominee for president, just as soon as Trump gets out of the way. But the former president isn’t going anywhere anytime soon—and Cruz’s obvious political triangulations have only managed to piss off both the MAGA base he covets as well as less Trumpy Republicans.