In the January issue of National Review Phil Klein salutes “Ted Cruz’s finest hour.” He writes:
Senator Ted Cruz is trying to wake people up to what he sees as a growing crisis on the right. He has taken to saying that if he were to post “Good morning” on the social media platform X, within minutes he would be deluged by hundreds of blatantly antisemitic replies. It’s not much of an exaggeration. On Veterans Day, like most elected officials, the Texas Republican posted a graphic with an accompanying note expressing gratitude for the brave service members who fought for our nation. The message was totally uncontroversial, but the replies would have fit in the letters section of Der Stürmer.
“To hell with you and the rest of traitors to the Republic who are selling our country to this genocidal, apocalyptic death cult of Zionists!” read one comment. Others blasted “Jewish terrorists” and “the evil political zionist takeover.” The worst of the comments were directed at Cruz himself, accusing him of being a “shill for Israel” or being controlled by “Israeli masters.” One doctored photo portrayed Cruz as a black-hatted Hasidic Jew with peyot (side curls); the attached message accused him of taking cash from “pedophile Israeli friends” that was deposited into “secret bank accounts.” Another showed him at a lectern, with a Nazi-era yellow “Jude” star attached to his suit. Other comments were too profane or scatological to include here.
Cruz is no stranger to being an object of derision, dating back to his days as a rookie senator leading a lonely crusade to defund Obamacare. But the vitriol directed at him now is for another reason: He is a Christian who has been a leading advocate for strong U.S.-Israeli ties and an indefatigable fighter against the scourge of antisemitism.
Other political leaders have spoken up in recent years against this worrisome trend, but Cruz has distinguished himself. At every opportunity, he raises the issue without being specifically asked. Unlike politicians who are willing to attack antisemitism only on the other political side, Cruz has been fighting it on all fronts.
Cruz recently told the Republican Jewish Coalition that he considered antisemitism a “poison,” ominously observing, “In the last six months, I’ve seen more antisemitism on the right than I have in my entire life.” Speaking to a Christians United for Israel audience about the rise of antisemitism among younger Evangelicals, he said, “I’m here to tell you the church is asleep right now.”
Cruz spoke at the 40th anniversary conference of the Repubican Jewish Coalition last month. He took up Tucker Carlson at about 19:00 and adopted my mantra: “Now is a time for choosing.”
I agree with everything Senator Cruz says above and have said so myself on Power Line more than a few times before. I am grateful to Senator Cruz for saying it himself and taking the grief he has taken as a result. I wish I had posted video of the Republican Jewish Coalition speech quoted by Klein at the time he gave it. Here it is.
