Manuel Balce Ceneta/AP
- At least six of Sen. Ted Cruz’s former aides have expressed their disgust at the recent actions of their former boss, according to New York Magazine’s Intelligencer.
- Ted Cruz is under fire for spreading election misinformation, objecting to the results of the 2020 election being certified, and having fundraised during the US Capitol insurrection.
- Democratic lawmakers have called for Cruz to resign or to be removed from office.
- His former staffers believe that the senator has deserted his conservative values, Intelligencer reported.
- Visit Business Insider’s homepage for more stories.
Republican Sen. Ted Cruz’s former staffers are “pretty disgusted” by the recent actions of their former boss, according to New York Magazine’s Intelligencer.
At least six of Cruz’s former aides have expressed their distaste at the senator’s political stance in recent weeks, the magazine reported.
This behavior, which has included peddling election misinformation, leading the objection to the Electoral college certification, and sending out a fundraising email while a pro-Trump mob breached the Capitol, has left a soured impression of those who have previously worked for him.
One former aide told Intelligencer: “Most of Cruzworld is pretty disgusted.”
Another told the magazine: “Everyone is upset with the direction things have gone, and the longer they’ve been with the senator, the more distaste they are expressing.”
Ever since last week's US Capitol insurrection, Sen. Ted Cruz of Texas has faced accusations of inciting the violence.
This has prompted several Democratic lawmakers to call for Cruz, along with Sen. Josh Hawley, to be removed from the Senate.
It also resulted in a senior Cruz aide, Lauren Blair Bianchi, resigning. The senator's communications director quit because her visions no longer aligned with his, Punchbowl News reported.
Those who have departed the Texas senator's office told Intelligencer that they have struggled to justify his actions.
One former aide explained: "Personally, it's painful. It sucks. We've always backed him because the country deserves principled conservative leadership … I'd say he got unlucky the Capitol was stormed by a mob, but in reality, he placed himself at the political mercy of others."
Another former staffer, Amanda Carpenter, told Intelligencer: "I could never have imagined that he could have gone down this road."
Carpenter added that she was shocked that her former boss would "potentially cancel votes in a way that defied any standards of federalism and constitutionalism."
When running for the Republican nomination in 2016, Cruz appealed to conservative voters and sought to contrast himself with President Donald Trump.
This led to bitter sparring, where Trump accused Cruz's father of involvement in President John F. Kennedy's assassination, and Cruz called him a "pathological liar."
In recent years, however, Cruz has become one of Trump's staunchest allies.
Rick Tyler, a former spokesman on Cruz's presidential campaign, told Intelligencer that this a sign of his political opportunism. He said: "Ted Cruz will abandon principle, he will abandon conservative values for expediency, and you're seeing it again, only more dangerous."
Despite widespread criticism of Cruz, the senator has claimed that he is trying to "find a way to reestablish widespread trust in the system."
One route to do this is by attending President-elect Joe Biden's inauguration on Wednesday.
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