Senator Ted Cruz (R-TX) abruptly dropped questions from a British journalist about gun violence in America two days after a massacre at a primary school in his state left 19 children and two adults dead.
Cruz, who is due to appear at a National Rifle Association convention this weekend, was outraged when pressure was put on gun laws and why mass shootings “only happen in America.”
Cruz was attending a vigil for the victims of the Robb Elementary School shooting when Sky News reporter Mark Stone asked him about the revision of gun laws in the United States. The senator began by dismissing calls for reform, saying “It’s easy to go into politics.” He added: “The proposals that the Democrats have? None of them would have stopped that.” (Cruz had previously called for “hardening schools” by installing new bulletproof glass and only having “a school entrance and exit door” during a Fox News interview).
But when Stone asked why there was “American exceptionalism” when it came to mass shootings, Cruz decided to close things in a hurry. “I’m sorry you think American exceptionality is horrible,” he said, patting the journalist on the chest, adding, “You know what? You have your political agenda, God loves you,” before walking away. from the TV group.
Stone went after Cruz, saying he “can’t answer” why mass shootings are an all-American problem. Visibly angry, Cruz replied, “Why do people from all over the world come to America? Because it is the freest, most prosperous and safest country on earth. Stop being a propagandist, ”he said, before heading back to the exit.
Cruz was on the eve alongside Texas Gov. Greg Abbott, who is also scheduled to appear at the NRA’s annual meeting in Houston this week. The couple has faced calls to withdraw from the event, which will also host former President Donald Trump, including Abbott’s Democratic electoral rival Beto O’Rourke. O’Rourke was expelled from a news conference Wednesday after nailing Abbott and Cruz to “doing nothing” to prevent school shootings. “Someone has to defend the children of this state or they will continue to be murdered as they were murdered yesterday in Uvalde,” O’Rourke was heard saying before his expulsion. Daniel Defense, the maker of one of the weapons used in the Texas massacre, has withdrawn from the NRA convention.
Tuesday’s massacre at Robb d’Uvalde Elementary School is the worst school shooting in the U.S. since the Sandy Hook massacre in Connecticut in 2012. A few days after his 18th birthday, the UValde gunman had legally bought two rifles. AR-15-style and hundreds of rounds of ammunition a week before the massacre.