Rep. Eric Swalwell says Cruz and Gaetz are like WWE wrestlers and that behind closed doors Cruz told him he was doing a great job as an impeachment manager

• California Rep. Eric Swalwell said several outspoken GOP representatives are putting on an act for their fans, just like in pro wrestling.
• He said that if one were to meet these congressmen in person, they would seem like "nice guys."
• He also said Rep. Ted Cruz had praised him for doing a "great job" as an impeachment manager when they bumped into each other in the bathroom.
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California congressman Eric Swalwell said several outspoken GOP representatives – namely Matt Gaetz, Ted Cruz, and Jim Jordan – are simply putting on an act on social media and television and drew comparisons to pro wrestling.

Speaking with anti-Trump group Meidas Touch in a podcast on Tuesday, Swalwell said many of his colleagues are "better suited to work at the WWE" and are trying to give viewers "what they think the fans want."

He said he had worked with Gaetz before the rise of Trumpism in the US, and observed that Gaetz would turn into a character and "laugh at himself about how stupid he had to act to keep the act going."

"And that's what's so frustrating. And this may sound crazy, but if you ran into Matt Gaetz or Ted Cruz or Jim Jordan at the Santa Monica Pier, you would say: 'These are nice guys! Boy, they're nothing like what I see them do on Twitter or TV,'" he said.

-Brett Meiselas (@BMeiselas) July 20, 2021

Swalwell then said that Rep. Ted Cruz had praised him for "doing a great job" as impeachment manager when the two bumped into each other in the bathroom during former President Donald Trump's Senate impeachment trial.

"And I'm like what the f--- is this guy talking about? He just scorched me on Fox News, like, the night before. He tweets at me every other week," said Swalwell, a vocal critic of Trump.

"But to him, if you're a pro wrestler, like, it doesn't matter that you hit me over the head in the ring with a steel chair," Swalwell continued. "It's all fake, right? You're just doing what the fans want, so I should just be cool with it because he projects onto me what he does."

"He thinks that I'm just performing as well. And that's what's most sickening, is that I don't even know what these guys believe," he added. " Like, I really don't."