U.S. Sen. Ted Cruz isn’t up for reelection this year, but I wish he were. I’d love to see him get Talaricoed.
The soon-to-be senior senator from Texas has a way of saying the nastiest things. And this week he did not disappoint.
During an interview with Fox News, Cruz was asked why so many Republican-held Senate seats are close races this year. He admitted the math is challenging for his party: “There are eight to 10 Senate races that are tied or within the margin of error.”
Mark Wingfield
Why are Republicans in danger of losing Senate seats? Not because of President Donald Trump’s record-low approval ratings, according to Cruz. And not because Trump and Pete Hegseth started a senseless war with Iran that has caused gasoline prices to skyrocket and food prices to do the same. Not because Trump and Stephen Miller are destroying the U.S. economy with their draconian immigrant deportation campaign. And surely not because Trump and his party of sycophants have made the United States the laughingstock of the world.
No, there’s another reason, according to Cruz: “This happens a lot in midterms, where the party out of power, they’re usually ticked off. And right now, if you’re a left-wing transgender witch, you hate Donald Trump, and you’re going to show up. You’re energized.”
The solution, he said: “Does everybody else show up? Do conservatives show up? Do libertarians show up? Do just common sense Americans who are not lunatics who don’t think communism and Islamism are a good idea. If regular, ordinary Americans show up to vote, (Republican Sen.) Dan Sullivan’s going to be reelected here in Alaska, and we’re going to win Senate seats and House seats all over the country.”
“There are neither enough witches nor enough transgender folks in Alaska to swing a Senate race.”
All the national polls show Cruz is smoking crack if he thinks Trump’s party is going to “win Senate seats and House seats all over the country.”
There are neither enough witches nor enough transgender folks in Alaska to swing a Senate race. So why did Cruz mouth off like he did? Because of what Jesus told us: “Out of the overflow of the heart, the mouth speaks.”
Cruz has a demonstrated track record of scandalizing transgender people. It’s clearly a heart disease for him.
Here’s what the Human Rights Campaign wrote about Cruz in 2016 — a decade ago: “Cruz’s comments this morning are part of an ongoing pattern of anti-transgender rhetoric on the campaign trail. He recently suggested transgender people should ‘only use restrooms at home and avoid public facilities.’ In addition to his recent ad smearing transgender people, his campaign threw a transgender teenager out of a campaign event. At prior campaign events, he launched a bigoted rant against the Obama administration’s decision to support a transgender student, falsely accusing officials of forcing the school to ‘let a little boy take showers with junior high girls.’ Elsewhere on the campaign trail, Cruz has decried efforts to lift the ban prohibiting transgender Americans from serving openly in the military, even though the American Medical Association approved a resolution last year that said there is ‘no medically valid reason to exclude transgender individuals from service in the U.S. military.’”
That was 10 years ago, and he’s only gotten worse since then. And most all his fellow Republicans have joined the attacks. Transgender children, youth and adults have become the boogeymen of Republican policies and attack ads.
Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth recently ranted about how under his watch there will be no “no fatties, no trannies, no beardos, no weirdos” in the U.S. military. He forgot to mention witches.
Something horrifying has happened in recent years as conservatives like Cruz and Hegseth have moved from seeking to harm transgender Americans with their policies to now making fun of them in ugly jokes. Remember, these are the same thin-skinned weirdos who have their panties in a wad because Saturday Night Live makes fun of Trump.
“Conservatives’ off-color jokes about transgender people are rooted in fantasy and fear, not reality.”
At least the SNL jokes are based in some reality. Conservatives’ off-color jokes about transgender people are rooted in fantasy and fear, not reality. They perpetuate ugly stereotypes.
And professing Christians are eagerly repeating the slurs. I recently cut off all communication with a former friend who attempted to defend Trump’s personnel and policies — and not for the first time — by declaring, “At least it’s not like the Biden and Obama administrations where we had trannies in charge.”
This is how unhinged the cultic defense of Trump and his tribe has become among evangelicals. Transgender people are such a small and misunderstood slice of the population that they are not the cause of anyone’s troubles. To declare otherwise is to outright bear false witness.
And by the way, please wash the word “trannies” out of your mouth and brain forever. This is a sexualized slur that is worse than calling someone a “whore.” It is a word that should not be used ever, in the same category as the “n” word.
Use of that word never is funny but always is cruel. And it shows the person who speaks it doesn’t care to educate themselves about reality.
Since 2015, thousands of anti-trans bills have been introduced in state legislatures across the nation. Many of these are cut-and-paste bills created by evangelical groups related to Focus on the Family and Family Research Council. Every year since 2023, more than 600 anti-trans bills have been introduced in state legislatures and the U.S. Congress.
Congress cannot pass a health care bill or an immigration reform bill, but they have time to dabble in senseless legislation attacking transgender people.
Christians — even conservative ones — should have no part in this. Just as they should have no part in the slanderous name-calling the president is best known for.
I know this is asking a lot for some folks who genuinely do not want to do the hard work of understanding transgender identity. If you’re not willing to learn, at least follow the advice of mothers everywhere: If you can’t say something nice, don’t say anything at all.
It’s time for Ted Cruz and others like him to shut their mouths.
Mark Wingfield serves as executive director and publisher of Baptist News Global.
Related:
Seven things I’m learning about transgender persons | Opinion by Mark Wingfield
SBC says it’s not possible to be gay or transgender and Christian
Trump administration calls transgender people national security threat
Why being transgender is not a sin | Opinion by Mark Wingfield