I live in New York City, in Queens, in the most ethnically diverse borough in the entire world, as it happens. I, like eight million other people here, take massive offense at this sneering putdown.
Here’s what he said: “Listen, there are many wonderful working men and women in the state of New York,” said Cruz, “but everyone understands that the values in New York City are socially liberal,” he added, insisting they are all “pro-abortion,” and “pro-gay marriage.”
Then in a final damning put down he claimed they are also “focused around money and the media.” Unlike himself, presumably.
Digging the hole even deeper Cruz said, “Framing it another way, not a lot of conservatives come out of Manhattan, I’m just saying.”
After that he gave one of his patented complacent giggles. Way to stick it to those libtards, Teddy.
But Cruz only seems to make lightning visits to New York City to pick up donations from prominent LGBT activists and other unlikely bedfellows. Perhaps that’s why he has such a comic book view of us. It sure doesn’t sound like he has a nuanced view of the city of eight million people he clearly enjoys disrespecting.
It was a measure of how far Cruz’s pointy arrow had fallen from the mark that he gave Donald Trump the once in a lifetime opportunity to sound like an elder statesman.
“It's a great place, with great people, loving people, wonderful people," Trump ad-libbed in response. Recalling how New Yorker responded after the World Trade Center attack, Trump added he watched as downtown Manhattan was rebuilt from the ground up. “Everybody in the world watched and everybody loved New York and New Yorkers,” he said. “That was a very insulting statement that Ted made.”
Like a stopped clock, even Donald Trump can be right once a day.
The sight of Cruz meekly applauding Trump’s devastating summation was the last straw for me concerning this feckless, unprincipled candidate and his doomed to fail run.
Here is a man who will contradict himself live on camera if he feels the audience has shifted. It was pitiful to watch.
There’s nothing else he can do now with his infuriating remark but double down on it. To do otherwise, or worse to apologize, would look vacillating and weak. Sure enough he’s on the news this morning doing just that.
That’s the trouble with taking bluntly partisan positions. Wiser politicians realize that it leads to ripping apart your own party and disparaging a great part of your own country. It’s political Kryptonite. It’s underlines that Cruz is much more of a partisan hack than a practical politician. It’s unpresidential, it’s unseemly, it’s unwise and it’s unbefitting.
Cruz spoke as if he’d have preferred to be president of the Confederacy. “I promise you, in the state of South Carolina, they know what I mean,” he smirked.
Well, tough breaks Ted, you’re 151 years too late.
Comments