GOPer Demands Ocasio-Cortez Apologize To Cruz For Blasting His Dangerous Rhetoric

Rep. Chip Roy (R-TX) on Thursday demanded an apology from Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-NY) for Twitter comments she made holding Sen. Ted Cruz (R-TX) accountable for a history of dangerous rhetoric that had deadly consequences at the U.S. Capitol earlier this month.

“It has come to my attention that Representative Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez sent out a tweet a few hours ago in which she accused Senator Ted Cruz, in essence, of attempted murder,” Roy, who previously served as Cruz’s chief of staff, wrote in a letter addressed to House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-CA).

“It is completely unacceptable behavior for a Member of Congress to make this kind of scurrilous charge against another member in the House or Senate for simply engaging in speech and debate regarding electors as they interpreted the Constitution. I ask you to call on her to immediately apologize and retract her comments,” Roy wrote.

Roy was among a minority of GOP House members who did not join an effort to object to President Biden’s electoral victory in Arizona and Pennsylvania earlier this month, but appears to have decided Ocasio-Cortez’s expression of fear is inappropriate.

The thinly-veiled comments appeared to defend Cruz as a warrior of freedom “simply engaging in speech,” when he acted as a ring leader in falsehood and advanced an effort to object to President Biden’s win on Jan. 6 that sparked a deadly insurrection.

While rejecting that his rhetoric played a role in provoking the riot, Cruz, who rode former President Trump’s coattails in a months-long effort to refuse his party’s defeat in the presidential election suggested in a Fox News interview earlier this week that it was “time to move on.” 

Ocasio-Cortez, refusing to allow the Texas senator to brush his antidemocratic charade under the proverbial carpet, rebuked Cruz after chimed in support as she condemned the stock-trading app Robinhood for blocking the trade of GameStop stocks.

“I am happy to work with Republicans on this issue where there’s common ground, but you almost had me murdered 3 weeks ago so you can sit this one out,” Ocasio-Cortez tweeted in response. “Happy to work w/ almost any other GOP that aren’t trying to get me killed. In the meantime if you want to help, you can resign.”  

In the wake of the deadly riot on the U.S. Capitol, Ocasio-Cortez has been outspoken about her concerns during the riot that a number of GOP colleagues might jeopardize her safety and even “create opportunities” for her to be hurt.

Roy concluded his letter both calling on Congress to “move forward,” while awkwardly refusing to do so himself — warning that if Ocasio-Cortez did not apologize for he would “be forced to find alternative means” to condemn her “regrettable statement.”