Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Texas) called on people Wednesday to stop listening to Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-Ga.) and suggested her politics are moving leftward.
Greene’s criticism of her fellow Republicans has escalated in recent days amid the government shutdown. Speaking on CNBC’s “Squawk Box,” Cruz urged people to not “spend much time worrying about what Marjorie is saying.”
“What I’ve found is that whenever an elected official decides that they are going to turn on Israel and hate Israel, you will very quickly see every other policy out of their mouth become very, very liberal,” Cruz continued. “And so suddenly Marjorie is for massive government spending and taxes and open borders and amnesty.”
“OK, fine,” he said. “That is not where the American people are. Where the American people are is real simple. We’re on Day 29 of the stupidest shutdown.”
Cruz followed Sen. Bernie Moreno’s (R-Ohio) plea for Greene to stop openly criticizing House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La.).
“If this is something she‘s passionate about, put pen to paper, write a bill, present an option,” Moreno said during an appearance on CNN’s “The Source.” “Don‘t just criticize what other people are doing.”
Greene on Tuesday called out Johnson for not offering congressional Republicans any plans on an alternative to the Affordable Care Act (ACA) during a conference call. This comes amid Democrats’ firm stance on extending ACA tax credits before they expire at the end of the year.
“Johnson said he’s got ideas and pages of policy ideas and committees of jurisdiction are working on it, but he refused to give one policy proposal to our GOP conference on our own conference call,” the Georgia Republican wrote in a post on social platform X. “Apparently I have to go into a SCIF to find out the Republican healthcare plan!!!”
Back in July, Greene called the humanitarian crisis in Gaza since the outbreak of war between Israel and Hamas a “genocide,” becoming the first congressional Republican to say so. She followed this by blasting the American Israel Public Affairs Committee (AIPAC), adding that it should register as a foreign lobbyist.
“Israel is not hurting, and they’ve already proven that they are more than capable of not only defending themselves, but annihilating their enemies to the point of genocide,” Greene said on a show hosted by former Rep. Matt Gaetz (R-Fla.) on One America News Network in August. “And that’s what’s happening in Gaza.”
Cruz has dismissed Greene’s criticisms toward Johnson before. In May, he called her effort to oust Johnson from his leadership position “silly.”
“And I think Marjorie Taylor Greene, to try to topple the Speaker increases the chances of chaos, it increases the chances of handing control to the Democrats,” Cruz said on the RealClearPolitics radio show. “And there is zero chance a more conservative Speaker will result, so I think what she’s doing is really unhelpful to the country.”
