In an interview Wednesday shortly after his 21-hour talkathon to defund Obamacare had come to an end, Sen. Ted Cruz (R-TX) lamented to shock jock Rush Limbaugh that too many lawmakers think their constituents are naive.
“They think their voters are gullible rubes,” Cruz said in the radio interview.
Cruz has spent months assuring supporters that the defunding battle is one that conservatives can win, notwithstanding the unfathomable scenario of President Barack Obama signing a bill that guts his signature legislative achievement.
But the junior Texas senator told Limbaugh that he’s been surprised and dismayed by the “defeatist attitude” in the Senate.
“I promise you, Rush, if you had to sit through one Senate lunch, you’d be in therapy,” Cruz said.
Cruz also clarified remarks he made Sunday, when he told Fox News host Chris Wallace that a “vote for cloture is a vote for Obamacare.” Following his talkathon, Cruz voted Wednesday for cloture on the continuing resolution that House Republicans passed last week.
But he told Limbaugh that isn’t the vote that matters. Rather, the cloture vote to end debate that will likely be held either Friday or Saturday is the one on which Cruz will evaluate the anti-Obamacare credentials of his fellow Republicans. After debate ends, Senate Democrats will strip the continuing resolution of the defunding language.
“Any Republican, in my view, who votes for cloture, who votes with Harry Reid…is voting to fund Obamacare,” Cruz said, adding later that he hopes the vote will be held Friday so that more people will pay attention.
