A new Washington Post report examines the ties between Sen. Ted Cruz and a politically active couple known for extremist messaging. That’s even as some Texas Republicans have distanced themselves from the husband-and- wife team.
Beth Reinhard, an investigative reporter for the Washington Post took a look at how Cruz has continued to embrace Fred and Julie McCarty, founders of the Northeast Tarrant Tea Party even after it suffered a backlash in 2019 after the El Paso Walmart shooting.
The day after a 21-year old drove from his Allen home to murder Hispanic shoppers in El Paso, Fred McCarty posted this comment on Facebook: “You’re not going to demographically replace a once proud, strong people without getting blowback.”
His wife added, in a comment: “I don’t condone the actions, but I certainly understand where they came from.”
While Cruz has condemned the El Paso shooting as “a heinous act of terrorism and white supremacy,” he has continued a relationship with the McCartys’ organization which has since rebanded as the True Texas Project.
“It’s these kind of relationships are worth examining between elected officials and folks on the far right,” Reinhard said.
James Riddlesperger, a political science professor at Texas Christian University in Fort Worth, told the Post that Cruz appears to have “turned a blind eye” to the group’s most extreme rhetoric. And according to Riddlesperger, many Cruz supporters don’t consider the group’s messaging as racist.
Also, there’s no real downside for Cruz supporting the group because they represent a large portion of the Republican Party, Riddlesperger told the Post.
