Ted Cruz continues to rake in endorsements from the ultra-right wing of the Republican party. This time, Ken Cuccinelli — failed GOP nominee for VA governor and supporter of forcing women receiving abortions to have a transvaginal ultrasound — is throwing his support behind Cruz.
Cruz accepting Cuccinelli’s endorsement is hardly a surprise. On top of agitating for government shutdowns, both are staunch opponents of LGBT rights: Cuccinelli tried to ban sodomy in Virginia but lost his fight with the Supreme Court.
Cruz’s reputation among Senate Republicans was so damaged after the 2013 shutdown that he had to promise he wouldn’t support the Senate Conservatives Fund fight to primary Republicans deemed insufficiently conservative. But now, he’s more than happy to align with SCF to boster his hard-core extreme street cred in Iowa and the south.
Cruzinelli: Two Peas In A Pod
Cruz Helped Cause The 2013 Government Shutdown
Politico: Cruz Helped “Prompt A Government Shutdown Crisis.” According to Politico, “Ted Cruz faced a barrage of hostile questions Wednesday from angry GOP senators, who lashed the Texas tea party freshman for helping prompt a government shutdown crisis without a strategy to end it. At a closed-door lunch meeting in the Senate’s Mansfield Room, Republican after Republican pressed Cruz to explain how he would propose to end the bitter budget impasse with Democrats, according to senators who attended the meeting. A defensive Cruz had no clear plan to force an end to the shutdown — or explain how he would defund Obamacare, as he has demanded all along, sources said.” [Politico, 10/2/13]
CNN: Cruz “Helped Coordinate Conservatives” On The Government Shutdown. According to CNN, “Texas Republican Sen. Ted Cruz — who helped coordinate conservatives ahead of last year’s government shutdown — made the unusual move Wednesday of crossing over to the House side of the Capitol to join a press conference with a handful of House conservatives.” [CNN,12/3/14]
San Antonio News-Express Editorial: Cruz Helped “Engineer A Government Shutdown” To Defund The Affordable Care Act. According to an editorial by the San Antonio News-Express, “Cruz might be serving in the wrong body. He has worked his magic on the U.S. House before. He used his influence with the House’s more conservative members to help engineer a government shutdown in 2013. All because he wanted to defund the Affordable Care Act. That was a disaster. And now we have another. Because the Senate failed to pass its version of emergency relief, Congress leaves for its five-week summer break without action on the humanitarian crisis posed by the Central American children.” [Editorial – San Antonio News-Express, 8/10/14]
Cruz Opposed ENDA
Cruz Opposed The Employment Non-Discrimination Act, Said It Was “The Wrong Approach.” According to Ted Cruz press release, “U.S. Senator Ted Cruz (R-Texas) released the following statement today concerning the Employment Non-Discrimination Act (ENDA): ‘The decision whether or not to make sexual orientation a protected legal class is a choice best left to the states, and elected legislatures in all 50 states have reached different conclusions on that question. A one-size-fits-all federal statutory right, which would invite abusive lawsuits and which contains insufficient protections for religious liberties, is the wrong approach.’” [Ted Cruz Official Press Release, 11/7/13]
Cruz was Opposed To Marriage Equality
Cruz Described The Ongoing Shift Toward Legal Recognition For Gay Couples As An “Unrelenting Assault On Traditional Marriage,” And Castigated Judges Who Have Struck Down Prohibitions For ‘Ignoring Their Oaths, Ignoring The Constitution And Legislating From The Bench.” According to the Des Moines Register, “U.S. Sen. Ted Cruz cast himself as a leading Republican opponent of same sex marriage during an appearance before a crowd of evangelical Christians in Des Moines on Monday. Cruz, R Texas, described the ongoing shift toward legal recognition for gay couples as an ‘unrelenting assault on traditional marriage,’ and castigated judges who have struck down prohibitions for ‘ignoring their oaths, ignoring the Constitution and legislating from the bench.’” [Des Moines Register, 3/9/15]
Cruz Re-Introduced The State Marriage Defense Act, Which Aims To Allow States To Adopt Their Own Definitions Of Marriage And Would Block The Federal Government From Applying Its Own Definition Of Marriage Onto States. According to Politico, “Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Texas) is calling on his colleagues to pass a bill that would make same sex marriage a state issue. Cruz, along with 11 other Republican senators, re-introduced the State Marriage Defense Act on Tuesday, which aims to allow states to adopt their own definitions of marriage and would block the federal government from applying its own definition of marriage onto states.” [Politico, 2/10/15]
- Cruz: “The Obama Administration Has Disregarded State Marriage Laws Enacted By Democratically-Elected Legislatures To Uphold Traditional Marriage.” According to the Houston Chronicle, “‘Even though the Supreme Court made clear in United States v. Windsor that the federal government should defer to state ‘choices about who may be married,’ the Obama Administration has disregarded state marriage laws enacted by democratically-elected legislatures to uphold traditional marriage,’ Cruz said in a statement.” [Houston Chronicle, 2/10/15]
Cruz Called For A Federal Constitutional Amendment That Would Allow States To Ignore A Supreme Court Ruling Striking Down Bans On Gay Marriage. According to Politico, “Texas Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Texas) and Louisiana Gov. Bobby Jindal are calling for a federal constitutional amendment that would allow states to ignore a Supreme Court ruling striking down bans on gay marriage. The establishment candidates, like Mitt Romney, are bound to be asked whether they support or oppose such an effort.” [Politico, 1/27/15]
Cruz Opposed Marriage Equality, Said He Supported “Traditional Marriage.” According to Huffington Post, “It seems Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Texas) has taken up a new cause in Congress — defending states’ right to regulate marriage. Amid a wave of court decisions striking down anti-gay marriage laws in states, the Texas Republican introduced a bill to the Senate Wednesday to amend U.S. law ‘with regard to the definition of ‘marriage’ and ‘spouse’ for Federal purposes and to ensure respect for State regulation of marriage.’ […] ‘I support traditional marriage. Under President Obama, the federal government has tried to re-define marriage, and to undermine the constitutional authority of each state to define marriage consistent with the values of its citizens,’ Cruz said in a statement. ‘The Obama Administration should not be trying to force gay marriage on all 50 states. We should respect the states, and the definition of marriage should be left to democratically elected legislatures, not dictated from Washington. This bill will safeguard the ability of states to preserve traditional marriage for its residents.’[…] Cruz warned of the dangers of gay marriage a month after the Supreme Court decision in a July 2013 interview with the Christian Broadcasting Network. ‘If you look at other nations that have gone down the road towards gay marriage, that’s the next step where it gets enforced,’ he said. ‘It gets enforced against Christian pastors who decline to perform gay marriages, who speak out and preach biblical truths on marriage.’” [Huffington Post, 2/13/14]
- Cruz: “Traditional Marriage Is An Institution Whose Integrity And Vitality Are Critical To The Health Of Any Society. We Should Remain Faithful To Our Moral Heritage And Never Hesitate To Defend It.” According to a Ted Cruz press release, “‘Traditional marriage is an institution whose integrity and vitality are critical to the health of any society. We should remain faithful to our moral heritage and never hesitate to defend it.’” [Ted Cruz Official Press Release, 10/6/14]
Cuccinelli Supported Virginia’s MANDATORY Ultrasound Bill
Cuccinelli Was An Outspoken Supporter Of Virginia’s Mandatory Ultrasound Bill. According to The Huffington Post, “Virginia, too, became ‘the laughingstock of the nation’ in 2012 when Republicans introduced a mandatory ultrasound bill that would have involved an invasive transvaginal procedure. Former Attorney General Ken Cuccinelli (R) later lost his gubernatorial race, in large part due to his outspoken support for the anti-abortion bill, which critics compared to ‘state-sponsored rape.’” [Huffington Post, 1/23/15]
Cuccinelli Called “Homosexual Acts” “Intrinsically Wrong”
Cuccinelli: “My View Is That Homosexual Acts, Not Homosexuality, But Homosexual Acts Are Wrong. They’re Intrinsically Wrong.” According to a staff editorial in the Hampton Roads Virginian-Pilot endorsing Cuccinelli’s opponent for Attorney General, “He declined to commit to a nondiscrimination policy against gays and lesbians observed by former Attorney General Bob McDonnell: ‘ My view is that homosexual acts, not homosexuality, but homosexual acts are wrong. They’re intrinsically wrong. And I think in a natural law based country it’s appropriate to have policies that reflect that. … They don’t comport with natural law. I happen to think that it represents (to put it politely; I need my thesaurus to be polite) behavior that is not healthy to an individual and in aggregate is not healthy to society.’” [Hampton Roads Virginian-Pilot, 10/26/09]
Cuccinelli Told A State Board That It Could Not Impose Regulations That Could Let Gay Couples Adopt Children. According to the Washington Post, “Attorney General Ken Cuccinelli II has advised a state board that it cannot impose new regulations that some argue would for the first time allow gay couples to adopt children in Virginia. Cuccinelli’s office said in a memo datedTuesday that the proposal to be considered by the State Board of Social Services as early as next week ‘does not comport with applicable state law and public policy.’” [Washington Post, 4/13/11]
Cuccinelli Said That Same-Sex Marriage Was “Certain To Harm Children.” According to WJLA, “”Giving public sanction to homosexual marriage ends up redefining marriage and it’s certain to harm children,” said Ken Cuccinelli, Virginia’s attorney general and a candidate for governor in 2013, at Reconciliation Community Church in Manassas on Friday evening.” [WJLA, 10/31/12]
Cuccinelli Tried To Prohibit Public Colleges And Universities From Banning Discrimination On The Basis Of Sexual Orientation. According to the Washington Post, “Virginia Attorney General Ken Cuccinelli II has urged the state’s public colleges and universities to rescind policies that ban discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation, arguing in a letter sent to each school that their boards of visitors had no legal authority to adopt such statements. In his most aggressive initiative on conservative social issues since taking office in January, Cuccinelli (R) wrote in the letter sent Thursday that only the General Assembly can extend legal protections to gay state employees, students and others — a move the legislature has repeatedly declined to take as recently as this week.” [Washington Post, 3/6/10]
Arkansas Times HEADLINE: “Va. Candidate Favors Criminalizing Adultery, Oral Sex.” According to the Arkansas Times, “Ken Cuccinelli, the Republican candidate for governor of Virginia, is about as extreme as they come. But, in this, you have to give him points for a sort-of wild-eyed consistency. He favors prosecution of heterosexual adultery. And oral sex.” [Arkansas Times,7/23/13]
Published: Dec 18, 2015