Sen. Ted Cruz found himself giving Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez a brief historical summary of American politics. This happened after the left attacked his remarks about the NAACP’s “travel ban” on Florida.
Cruz came under a Twitter barrage while calling the travel ban a bizarre, dishonest political maneuver on the part of the NAACP to call Florida dangerous to black Americans.
The Old “The Parties Switched Sides” Invoked
Ocasio-Cortez then commented on Cruz’s take on the filibuster being used by Democrats to derail the Civil Rights Act of 1964, asking the Texas senator to tell her about the parties supposedly “switching” at some point in time.
1/x Sure.
– First, the Dem party founded the KKK.
– Then the Dem party wrote Jim Crow laws.
– Then the Dem party filibustered the Civil Rights Act. https://t.co/ix3fACqwkB
— Ted Cruz (@tedcruz) May 23, 2023
What followed was a short lesson about the origins of the Republican Party by Cruz.
Beginning with the GOP’s founding as an anti-slavery party, Cruz informed Ocasio-Cortez about the Republican-led effort to win the civil war, abolish slavery, and pioneer Civil Rights for newly freed slaves.
Democrats, Civil Rights, and the Klan
Cruz continued with how the Kun Klux Klan was founded by prominent Democrat Nathan Bedford Forest as a paramilitary arm to terrorize both blacks and Republicans down south.
The kind of interaction that makes this platform so unique & entertaining!
🍿😀
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) May 23, 2023
In response to Ocasio-Cortez telling him to inform the public about what happened before the “switch,” Cruz pointed out Jim Crow laws as a product of Democratic state governments in the Post-Reconstruction era.
The Texas senator even tallied the number of Democrats who voted against the Civil Rights Act in 1964, with only 64% voting in favor upon its passage, compared to over 80% of the GOP.
In addition, Biden’s eulogy of Klan member (and Democrat) Robert Byrd, along with former Virginia Governor Ralph Northam dressing as a Klansmen, was mentioned in Cruz’s rebuttal.
Twitter CEO Elon Musk found himself commenting on the interaction between both Cruz and Ocasio-Cortez, saying such discord makes the platform far more interesting and entertaining.
