Sen. Ted Cruz, (R- Texas), walked back his previous comments where he condemned the thousands of Trump supporters who stormed the Capitol building as “terrorists” in an interview with Tucker Carlson.

Cruz said he was referring to the Trump supporters who were attacking Capitol police officers.

“I wasn’t saying the thousands of peaceful protesters supporting Donald Trump are somehow terrorists,” Cruz said in the Fox News interview. “I phrased things in a way that was sloppy and completely dumb,” he added.

Carlson did not believe Cruz and said that Cruz was a highly trained lawyer who could not possibly have been so sloppy with his choice of words.

“I don’t buy that,” Carlson said.

Cruz said he had numerous times in the past referred to people who assault police officers as terrorists and that they belong in prison. The FBI defines terrorism as "violent, criminal acts committed by individuals and/or groups to further ideological goals stemming from domestic influences, such as those of a political, religious, social, racial, or environmental nature."

Cruz had previously called the Jan. 6 attack a “despicable act of terrorism,” the day after the failed insurrection, and said it was a “dark moment in our nation’s history,” on May 28.

“Everyone who attacked the Capitol must be prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law and brought to justice,” Cruz said on his website.

This would not be the first time Cruz has bent the knee to former President Trump, even after Trump had disrespected Cruz’s wife and insinuated his father was partially responsible for the assassination of President Kennedy because of his Cuban heritage.

Cruz is one of 147 Republican leaders who attempted to overturn the 2020 presidential election and is smart enough to know Trump has made his unfounded “stolen election” claims to be a litmus test in the Republican party going forward. Anyone who has fallen out of line has seen their political career placed in jeopardy as Trump and supporters seemingly seek revenge against lawmakers like Sen. Lisa Murkowski, (R- Alaska), and Rep. Liz Cheney, (R- Wyo.), for not accepting his bogus election fraud claims. Rep. Adam Kinzinger, (R- Ill.), belongs to this group as well and has chosen to not seek reelection due to his poor chances of winning for rejecting Trump’s baseless conspiracy theory.

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Terrorism