Ted Cruz shocked many people on the right this week, when he decided to call the January 6 US Capitol riots what it was, a terrorist attack.
But after issuing an embarrassing apology to Tucker Carlson, it seems like he’s taking it all back.
The Republican Texas Senator was trending on Twitter after his comments of denouncing the violent attack last year that occurred at the hands of Trump supporters hoping to overturn the election results.
This led to many of his fellow right-wing peers and supporters slamming Cruz and his choice of words, including Tucker Carlson.
So when he made an appearance on Carlson’s show, the Fox News host didn’t back down from condemning Cruz’s comments, and the Senator immediately folded.
Calling his previous comments “a mistake” “sloppy” and “dumb” Cruz went on to make a rambling apology and back down his own words.
But, surprisingly, Carlson didn’t believe him—and he made sure he let Cruz know just that.
What followed was a 7-minute attempt to sway Carlson in his favor, along with the Republicans he let down by criticizing the events of January 6, 2021.
Watch the grovelling exchange below:
Here's the full clip. After Cruz says he used "sloppy phrasing" when he called 1/6 a "violent terrorist attack," Ca… https://t.co/VmfLUOgrgh— Oliver Darcy (@Oliver Darcy) 1641519589
Carlson quickly cut Cruz off, as he began to explain why he said what he said.
"I've known you a long time since before you went to the Senate. You were a Supreme Court contender. You take words as seriously as any man who's served in the Senate," Carlson told Cruz. "And every word—you repeated that phrase, I do not believe that you used that accidentally. I just don't!"
Cruz explained, “What I was referring to are the limited number of people who engaged in violent attacks against police officers. I think you and I both agree that if you assault a police officer, you should go to jail.”
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He continued to backpedal on his comments, he shared that he "wasn't saying the thousands of peaceful protesters supporting Donald Trump are somehow terrorists."
Cruz also went on to blame Democrats for politicizing the word “terrorist.”
He later also shared a tweet promoting his appearance on the show.
“Yesterday, I used a dumb choice of words and unfortunately a lot of people are misunderstanding what I meant,” he wrote.
Yesterday, I used a dumb choice of words and unfortunately a lot of people are misunderstanding what I meant. https://t.co/vWCjFnA4t3— Ted Cruz (@Ted Cruz) 1641520936
Online, people called Cruz’s appearance a cowardly move.
Ted Cruz accurately describing the political violence of Trump supporters on January 6th as terrorism and then imme… https://t.co/8ANmOatZ26— southpaw (@southpaw) 1641520659
I’m not sure you could find a more pathetic figure in politics if you tried. Who would’ve guessed that blaming his… https://t.co/Hmef9zKZmJ— Brian Tyler Cohen (@Brian Tyler Cohen) 1641520296
Ted Cruz is apparently addicted to humiliating himself. https://t.co/Pmiz8CgP0t— Ahmed Baba (@Ahmed Baba) 1641519698
Wow @tedcruz that is one of the most pathetic things i have ever seen. https://t.co/nvxMcMEU8w— Adam Kinzinger (@Adam Kinzinger) 1641527283
I’m beginning to think Ted Cruz hates Ted Cruz even more than I hate Ted Cruz. And I really hate Ted Cruz.— Adam Parkhomenko (@Adam Parkhomenko) 1641520490
Holy smokes. Are you surprised @tedcruz just backed down from @TuckerCarlson’s attack on him last night for Cruz ca… https://t.co/vj0oZHsyeN— Rep. Eric Swalwell (@Rep. Eric Swalwell) 1641519148