The first few months of 2021 have been hectic and challenging to say the least. For Texas Sen. Ted Cruz, the year has been particularly chaotic. Cruz has made bad decision after bad decision since the start of the new year. It all started after Cruz decided not to verify President Joe Biden’s election victory, legitimizing the Jan. 6 insurrection. Since then, Cruz has jumped at every opportunity to make bad decisions. Most notably, while millions of Texans went without power and water during the historic winter storm, Cruz was trying to make his escape to the sunny beaches of Cancun. After being caught, Cruz flew back to Texas and blamed the trip on his daughters wanting to go and claimed he was just trying to be a good dad. Afterward, it emerged that Cruz had taken his Princeton college roommate along. Combined with leaked texts from his wife, Heidi Cruz, you get the sense this vacation was less spontaneous and kid-driven than Cruz claims.
Originally, I thought this circus was going to be the only thing I had to talk about. Not wanting to let people think he wasn’t awful in every way, Cruz decided to later turn the tragedy into a joke. His stage was the Conservative Political Action Conference, or CPAC, where he performed a bizarre stand-up routine of sorts. Cruz referenced the incident where he abandoned his constituents while dozens died, saying, ”Orlando is awesome! It’s not as nice as Cancun, but it’s nice!”
Not only did he flee Texas, Cruz had the gall to joke and lie about it. Cruz’s actions feel like a slap in the face. We need officials who represent our best qualities, not exemplify our worst.
Cruz’s entire speech was a strange fever dream of frantic shouting, pop-culture references and pantomime accented by the crowd’s awkward silence. From his objectively ugly haircut to his tone-deaf CPAC bits, it’s obvious Cruz is trying to tap into former President Donald Trump’s vulgar, populist charm. Whatever strange appeal Trump has is lightning in a bottle — Cruz doesn’t have it.
In a later interview, Cruz went from throwing his daughters under the bus to blaming the media for having “Trump withdrawals” and focusing on his failures instead of New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo’s. Contrary to Cruz’s claim, Cuomo has received frequent news coverage, resulting in his approval dropping nearly 20 percentage points. Similarly, Cruz’s approval has also taken a substantial hit, dropping 23 percent among Republicans.
While the world was collapsing around him, Cruz could find no better way to spend his time than making unprompted jabs at Star Wars actress Daisy Ridley on Twitter. Lately, this app has been one of Cruz’s favorite pastimes and a place where he likes to engage in controversy. As a result, a variety of anti-Ted Cruz hashtags have found their home on Twitter.
It seems if there’s one thing Cruz is good at, it’s getting people to hate him. Among his colleagues, Cruz is one of the least popular people on Capitol Hill. He has famously been the butt of many jokes and criticism from Democrats and Republicans. Republican Lindsey Graham once said, “If you killed Ted Cruz on the floor of the Senate, and the trial was in the Senate, nobody could convict you.”
To atone for his disgraceful behavior and all-around miserable character, Cruz needs to take a page from former Sen. Al Franken’s book. Franken resigned over sexual misconduct allegations, an act that feels like it’s from a by-gone era.
While Ted Cruz may be a joke, Texas and its people are not. Cruz has utterly embarrassed himself and his office time and time again. His words and actions have proven he lacks any sense of the responsibility and integrity we desperately need and deserve. I believe 2021 needs to be rid of Ted Cruz. His resignation is necessary for Texas to avoid another four years of shameful behavior. Though, I realize that Cruz’s selfishness and ambition make resignation unlikely. In that case, I have to call on everyone reading who is as disgusted as I am to ensure that Cruz doesn’t see public office after 2024. As a Texas senator who came within three percentage points of losing to a Democrat, Cruz is already the weakest link. It’s up to Texans to close this increasingly shrinking gap, ensuring that Cruz and those like him can no longer stand as a mockery of our state.
Zachary Freeman is an anthropology junior and opinion writer for The Battalion.
