President Barack Obama took some pointed shots at Sen. Ted Cruz (R-TX) on Wednesday without ever addressing the Texas Republican by name.
Speaking at a Dallas fundraiser for the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee, Obama was on Cruz’s turf. As he heaped criticism on GOP intransigence, Obama said that some Texas lawmakers are among the worst offenders.
“But we could name for you a whole bunch of Republicans who are good and decent people who are as frustrated as we are in some ways about what’s happened to their party,” Obama said, according to a White House transcript. “But right now at least, there’s a group that — and a few of them are from Texas, I’ve got to admit — who just aren’t willing to do the hard work and the compromise necessary to move the country forward.”
For that reason, Obama said, “It is absolutely critical that we transform Congress.”
When he turned his attention to the government shutdown, Obama made another thinly veiled reference to Cruz.
“Now, I’ll give you the second example of what precipitated — according to at least one senator from Texas — the necessity for the shutdown, and that is the Affordable Care Act,” Obama said, while expressing anger “with some IT people in Washington” over HealthCare.gov’s woes.
This post has been updated.
