Republican senator, who flew to Mexico as Texas faced deadly cold snap, complains of ‘serious security threats’ to lawmakers
The Texas Republican senator Ted Cruz, who achieved viral infamy in 2021 when he was seen at Houston airport for a flight to Cancún even as his state faced a historic and deadly spell of cold weather, this week moved a step closer to securing police escorts for lawmakers at airports.
Under an amendment to the Federal Aviation Authority Reauthorization bill introduced by Cruz, members of Congress and other prominent officials, and some family and staff members, will be offered security escorts if they are deemed “currently … or previously … the subject of a threat, as determined by such applicable federal protective agency”.
If passed by the House and Senate, the bill will fund the FAA for four years.
But given Cruz’s scrape with viral fame over his flight to Mexico in February 2021 – a trip to join a family vacation he abandoned after one day, admitting his “obvious mistake” as tweets and memes proliferated – the senator faces criticism and mockery over his attempt to secure security guards for future airport trips.
Way to telegraph your pussydom, Ted.
He’s been doing that ever since the orange turd insulted his wife and then Rafael rimmed his ass
You know who threatens lawmakers the most? Who sends the most death and rape threats? Who it is that’s out for blood if an official deviates from orthodoxy?
Trump supporters.
Ted should just come out and say it. He’s afraid of his boss’ rabid proto-fascist fan base.
Ted, you stupid prick, hire your own damn security. We, the American people, owe you nothing.
A man of the people.
Shouldn’t a big, tough Texas man just be able to whip out his gun and defend himself?
No offense to Canadians, but a Texas man, cruz is not.
He is now. You even elected him. No sending that asshat here. He is Texan now.
locations of birth canals notwithstanding, I know transgender people who are more of a man than he.
I am guessing you just mean transgender women. All transgender men are more of a man than he is.
Hey, now. He adopted pussydom when he left Canada, sure as hell is none here. It’s too cold to be a pussy.
One of the reasons he doesn’t need a security detail in an airport is that (at least in theory) they stop people from bringing guns into them.
The chances of him being assassinated in an airport are very close to zero. The chances someone might come up to him with criticism, however…
Exactly, surely if he wants to feel safe at the airport he should try and get guns allowed in there.
When legislating for your constituents: Regulations shall be written in blood (and lots of it!).
When legislating for yourself: Best err on the side of caution.
I mean did Cruz even try thoughts and prayers first? Shouldn’t he hire a private security detail from the free market instead of embiggening the government and using people’s taxes to pay for his protection?
deleted by creator
We’re out there trying to cut government spending and remove laws! Except this one. We need this one.
Speaking of hypocrisy, always remember that Republicans spent Obama’s entire presidency arguing that he was born in Kenya so he can’t be president. But didn’t say fuck all when Canadian Ted ran. Want to know more about why I think you’re racist?
He was also the main push for increasing Congress’ salary a few years ago because it was too expensive to maintain a house in Texas and one in DC. Despite how expensive it is, he is still able to afford frequent trips to Cancun.
Piece of traitor shit surrounding himself with other pieces of traitor shit with guns. What a country!
Oh, Ted maybe if you weren’t such a cowardly cunt people wouldn’t hate you…
I don’t know how Republicans can continue supporting this spineless fool.
Party over people. They’d rather freeze to death in a winter storm than vote for anyone who doesn’t have an “R” next to their name on the ballot.
So if Democrat candidates create a registered trademark for their names and add ®, would the get more votes?
Bernie Sanders® for president!
Birds of a feather
While I doubt that things are actually more dangerous nowadays than before, Cruz has been very vocal about selling the narrative that things are getting worse. If he feels like his life is in danger, he needs to work to make it safer for everyone instead of just himself!
Coward
Awww, poor widdle Teddy-Boy! Those evil leftists are so mean! How heartless of them to hold poor Teddy accountable for his despicable shitfuckery!
Honestly this seems reasonable. Still funny that he is one of the sponsors though.
deleted by creator
This doesn’t just apply to him. Plenty of legislators are expose to threats from both sides of the isle. And it isn’t like they are going to get 24h coverage from this. This is walking around an airport for a couple hours.
You’re talking out of both sides of your ass.
deleted by creator
No it isn’t. He’s an elected public official. That means he shouldn’t hide from the public.
We don’t say the same thing about the president, right? At a certain point it would be harmful for the country if politicians were subject to physical intimidation. And while we might have feelings about assholes from other parties, what about people with the same views as us?
Weird how he didn’t need this security detail last year. Seems like it only happened when he got publicly criticized.
Most senators do not have a security detail. Ted is afraid of talking to the public unless it’s on TV.
deleted by creator
How is it a ridiculous comparison?
I wasn’t saying that a senator or congressman is of the same importance as a president. After all, you won’t see the president at an airport.
What I’m saying is it’s in the public interest for our elected representatives not to be subject to physical threat.
If a senator is eating at a restaurant, and a person or group comes in who they view as a threat, they always have the option to leave. Often there are multiple points of ingress/egress. And they have the option to bring in as much security as they want.
At an airport you can’t just leave unless you want to miss your flight. There are by design limited points to come in/out at an airport, and the terminals are usually dead ends so even if you wanted to leave it might not be possible if confronted by a group. And even if a person wanted to bring private security they don’t let people in unless you also buy tickets.
deleted by creator
I do imply they are similar, I didn’t say they were the same.
Do you think that an elected official might have a higher risk of being threatened than a private citizen?
deleted by creator
No one said you can’t talk to them just because they have security.
Have you ever tried to talk to someone surrounded by security staff?
Generally you can ask if you can speak to them. If done in a respectful way they may talk to you. They may even be more willing to talk knowing there is security there. Each situation will very though.
Yes, that does sound like Ted Cruz.
It’s not. I actually commented on this before in a different thread. I saw him in a Texas airport last year and he already had a state trooper with him and not a single person was trying to talk to him as he walked. That man is in no danger because his persona is repellent enough to keep people away from him.
And, as I pointed out elsewhere, the TSA, something he decides the funding for, is supposed to stop anyone bringing weapons into an airport.
At worst he’s risking getting punched in the face.
This doesn’t just apply to him. Plenty of legislators are expose to threats from both sides of the isle. And it isn’t like they are going to get 24h coverage from this. This is walking around an airport for a couple hours.
It doesn’t seem reasonable to need a security duty in a place that’s already considered high security. People are screened for anything dangerous by the TSA.
In an ideal world that would be true, but if we were in an ideal world we wouldn’t need the security there in the first place. You can do a lot of damage to someone with just your body and there are a lot of people that are violent out in society.
Maybe in the interest of safety, it would be best for everyone if we just kept Ted Cruz locked away from the public permanently, like in a bottomless pit or something.
Agree.
Many politicians suck, and it’s not good that they’re insulated from public feedback. I think some people feel like harassing Ted Cruz at the airport is the only way he’s ever going to hear what they have to say, so they don’t want to have taxpayer money going to protect him.
But for those people imagine the flip side: some Jan 6er assholes harassing AOC or Bernie at the airport. There are enough people from any walk of life or viewpoint to mob a politician at an airport.
But for those people imagine the flip side: some Jan 6er assholes harassing AOC or Bernie at the airport.
I am absolutely fine with that. They are citizens. They should have the right to approach elected officials in public. Just because they say things I don’t like doesn’t mean those officials should be immune from the public.
If you don’t want people to talk to you, maybe politician isn’t the right job for you.
And I would not be at all surprised if that has happened to both AOC and Sanders more than once and they handled it with grace and aplomb. Do you really think they have security details? Does that sound like Bernie Sanders?
I think the people in this thread are focused on speech - you’re right that politicians should be available to the public, that they shouldn’t be insulated from public sentiment.
What I’m talking about is violence - like January 6. Just because it hasn’t happened yet doesn’t mean the necessary elements aren’t all there. Some people are getting information from crazy sources, completely untethered from reality.
And sure, people aren’t supposed to be able to get guns through, but I’ve accidentally brought knives through security more than once. There’s also just plain old physical force. We’ve seen news stories of people dying from a single punch, maybe their head hits the floor too hard.
If you’ve accidentally brought weapons through security, that is partially Ted Cruz’s fault. He is part of what controls the TSA’s budget. Why should he be insulated from the consequences when none of the rest of us are?
Any of us could be a victim of violence at any time. Most people, even very famous people, do not walk around with security details. I know because I used to live in L.A. and saw famous people just walking around plenty of times.
I’m sorry, but this is Ted Cruz just being a coward. On our dime.
Ted Cruz is a coward. And maybe that’s why he’s proposing this. I’m saying regardless of his reasons for proposing it or how shitty he is, I think it’s a reasonable policy.
And I’m saying it is not a reasonable policy for someone who controls the TSA’s purse strings to not trust them to stop weapons from coming into an airport.
It’s his fault it happens. He needs to deal with the consequences if there are any.
And again, this is not a common thing for federal politicians. It simply isn’t. Yes, the president and his family have a security detail. But only after a ton of presidents got assassinated. William McKinley got assassinated because Leon Czolgosz just walked up to him and shot him. But back then, we didn’t have airports or security screenings. And most senators and congresspeople still don’t walk around with a security detail.
Only the cowards.
You mentioned AOC.
AOC got sexually harassed on the capitol steps and does not have a security detail. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lMeF_jwnHMA
Here she is being confronted by angry pro-Palestinian protesters. In public without a security detail. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8oMkaJ73D7E
As for Bernie Sanders? Here’s BLM protesters getting on the stage with him while he was running for president. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p2iMM7m12zE
Bernie Sanders and AOC are not cowards and are not afraid to be around people who are harassing them in public. Not even when there is no security scanner around.
Ted Cruz is.
