Why Ted Cruz's Harsh Words About Senate Democrats Has The Internet Seeing Red

Few politicians have the power to rile up the internet like Ted Cruz, who seems to have a knack for making off-the-cuff, seemingly tone-deaf, controversial statements. Cruz set tempers blazing yet again after he appeared on Fox News as a guest of conservative commentator Sean Hannity where, among other things, he accused congressional Democrats of moving in a single voice. "It's a weird thing, Sean, that there is a herd mentality among congressional Democrats, that they obey [Senate Majority leader] Chuck Schumer and their only answer is 'sir, yes sir,'" the Texas senator said (via Twitter).

Incredulous liberals flocked to Twitter to call on Cruz to look to his own party and their devotion to former president Donald Trump. "The lack of self awareness is astounding," said one Twitter user, while another quipped, "Good point Ted (@SenTedCruz). Just like Republicans did 4 years with Trump." A third shared a clip of Senator Lindsey Graham along with the caption, "Maybe Cruz should look into a mirror and listen to Lindsey Graham: 'Trump owns the Republican Party... This is the party of Donald Trump.'"

While Ted Cruz has gone all in for Donald Trump, he isn't exactly popular within his own party. Some of the most disparaging comments involving Cruz have even come from within the GOP itself. "If you killed Ted Cruz on the floor of the Senate, and the trial was in the Senate, nobody would convict you," Senator Lindsey Graham once said of Cruz (via Business Insider). John Boehner, who was Speaker of the House when Barack Obama was president, described Cruz as "Lucifer in the Flesh" and added that, "I have Democrat friends and Republican friends. I get along with almost everyone, but I have never worked with a more miserable son of a b***h in my life," (via The Stanford Daily).

Several media reports have pinned Cruz's lack of likability on his ability to put himself before the party. As Graham once put it, "He [Cruz] plays into the frustrations and passions of good people and creates narratives that don't exist at the expense of others," (via New York Magazine). As Mitch McConnell's former chief of staff Josh Holmes put it to The Washington Post, "There's not a lot of love lost for the guy, and it' s not what he's trying to accomplish or what he says he's trying to accomplish that bothers people. It's that he's consistently sacrificed the mutual goals of many for his personal enhancement."