Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Texas) accused Democrats of supporting pro-Palestinian protesters for political gain Sunday morning.
The senator, who is facing re-election in Texas against current Rep. Collin Allred (D-Texas), joined radio host John Catsimatidis in a Sunday interview on “The Cats Roundtable” on WABC 770 AM to criticize the Biden administration and Democrats’ approach to immigration and U.S. foreign policy. He honed in on the influence of the pro-Palestine movement on the upcoming election for the Democratic party.
“They’re having pro-Hamas rallies, and the Democrat Party is paralyzed because they want the votes,” Cruz said.
He continued to accuse Democrats, as well as the criminal justice system and school administrators, of being too lenient towards the student protestors on college campuses across the country who participated in pro-Palestine encampments and demonstrations.
“If anyone threatens another student — and we’re seeing Jewish students threatened at universities across the country,” Cruz said, “here’s what should happen: You threaten another student, you should be arrested. You should be prosecuted. You should be expelled.”
Cruz’s statement comes days after 31 of 46 students arrested for their alleged participation in the occupation of Columbia University’s Hamilton hall had their charges dropped by the Manhattan district attorney’s office. Prosecutors dropped the case due to a lack of evidence and criminal history among the students arrest.
Columbia has signaled that it is considering expulsion for tens of students involved in the months of protests on its campus. Over 3,100 people have been arrested for participating in pro-Palestine protests on a college campus, according to a New York Times tracker.
Cruz also alleged that student protestors were being funded by “people directly affiliated with Hamas.” He turned his frustration towards the Justice Department saying that it was too “politicized” to investigate.
They’re not willing to investigate that, because many of those donors are funding Joe Biden, and are funding my Democratic opponent,” he said during the interview.
In May, Cruz joined a coalition of GOP Senators calling on the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) to investigate the nonprofit organizations financially supporting National Students for Justice in Palestine — the group responsible for coordinating pro-Palestine college movements across the country. The IRS has yet to publicly respond to the letter.
“Don’t send money to people who want to murder you,” Cruz told Catsimatidis. “The Democrat party is lined up in support of essentially our enemies.”