Sen. Cruz Slams Chinese Communist Party’s Oppression & Democrats’ Defund the Police Movement

WASHINGTON, D.C. - After the Chinese Communist Party announced sanctions against him, U.S. Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Texas) appeared on ‘The Rick Roberts Show' and ‘The Press Pool with Julie Mason' on Friday to discuss his efforts to unwind the U.S. from China and hold Chinese officials accountable. Sen. Cruz also slammed Democrats radical push to defund the police, and highlighted a bill he plans to introduce that would allow suits against local officials who fail to keep Americans safe by pulling back police protection. Finally, Sen. Cruz discussed Texas' handling of the coronavirus pandemic and the importance of re-opening schools safely. Excerpts from his interviews are below.

ON CHINA'S SANCTIONS & HIS EFFORTS TO UNWIND THE U.S. FROM CHINA:

"I view [the sanctions] as a badge of honor. The Chinese communist government, they are murderers, they are torturers. They have one million Uyghur's in concentration camps right now. They have horrific and inhumane policies. One child policy where they engage in forced sterilization and forced abortions. They engage in rampant cover ups and censorship. And in their cover up of the coronavirus outbreak in Wuhan, China, where they deliberately suppressed information about that outbreak. That is a direct cause of the over half a million people worldwide who have died of this pandemic [...] I have been a leading China hawk all eight years I've been in the Senate. I've been laying out the case that China poses the most significant geopolitical threat to the United States over the next century." (Sen. Cruz, The Press Pool with Julie Mason, 7/17/2020)

"There's a reason why they sanctioned me because they don't like that I'll lead the fight against them. But I am welcoming suddenly new allies who have discovered in the last six months, as they've seen the devastation China's caused [...] just how malevolent these communist tyrants and oppressors are." (Sen. Cruz, The Rick Roberts Show, 7/17/2020)

ON THE DEMOCRATS' DANGEROUS DEFUND THE POLICE MOVEMENT:

"Unfortunately, far too many Democratic politicians are abandoning their citizens, abandoning their cities, abandoning their communities to the radical Left. And we have seen violent riots, we've seen mobs engaging in physical assault against citizens, fire-bombing police cars, looting and burning small businesses, many of them owned by African-Americans or Hispanics in inner cities [...]

"I'm a Texan, but I stand with the NYPD. And what they're proposing, defunding and abolishing police departments, it is foolish, it is radical, [and] it is dangerous. But it is also racist. Many on the Left like to wrap themselves in the phrase and slogan ‘Black Lives Matter' [...] Black lives absolutely matter, and if you defund the police, you are going to kill many, many more African-American women, children, innocent people that live in inner cities, that if you pull the cops out of them, more of them are going to be killed. More of them are going to be attacked. More of them are going to be sexually assaulted. And what they're doing is wrong and it's dangerous." (Sen. Cruz, The Rick Roberts Show, 7/17/2020)

"I've introduced legislation that if a public official withdraws police protection, withdraws fulfilling the responsibility of protecting the citizens, then anyone whose home or business is injured, anyone who faces physical harm can sue that municipality and get damages [...] in fact, get triple damages because it is lawless when you have politicians saying, ‘We're going to prevent the police from doing their job.'" (Sen. Cruz, The Rick Roberts Show, 7/17/2020)

WATCH: We Will Defend America Against Violent Anarchists

ON TEXAS' HANDLING OF THE CORONAVIRUS PANDEMIC & THE IMPORTANCE OF RE-OPENING SCHOOLS IN THE FALL:

"I think the state [Texas] is treating this pandemic seriously. We're working to mitigate the spread of it, but we're also not shut down. We're allowing people to go to work, small businesses to open, people to provide for their families. And I think we've got to have a balance of both: deal with the pandemic, prevent the spread of the virus, but also protect people's ability to earn their livelihood and provide for their families." (Sen. Cruz, The Press Pool with Julie Mason, 7/17/2020)

"I think an outcome where schools are shut down and kids aren't learning and they go into the fall and they're not able to get a good education, they're falling behind in math, they're falling behind in reading, they're falling behind in their basic education, I think that is a terrible outcome for kids. And I don't think the science supports that there is a significant public health danger of opening the schools. I think there's a much greater danger of closing the schools and putting the kids at an even worse situation." (Sen. Cruz, The Press Pool with Julie Mason, 7/17/2020)

LISTEN: Cruz Speaks With Julie Mason About COVID-19 & Being Sanctioned by the Chinese Communist Government

LISTEN: Cruz on the Rick Roberts Show Blasts Dems' Radical Push to Defund the Police

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