October 24, 2018

Ted Cruz, Who Joked Yesterday About Locking Up His Opponent, Renews Call for Civility in Politics

“America is better than this.”

Daisuke Tomita /AP

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After another round of reports of explosives being sent to prominent Democratic figures, Texas Republican Sen. Ted Cruz issued a statement condemning the attempted bombings and—as he has done with increasing frequency during his tight reelection campaign—calling for a de-escalation of political rhetoric:

“Political disagreements are fine, even healthy, but we should always be civil and respect each other’s humanity,” he tweeted.

A day earlier, Cruz joked about throwing his Democratic opponent, Rep. Beto O’Rourke, in a prison cell with Hillary Clinton. And on Monday, he appeared at a rally in Houston with President Donald Trump, who ran for office in part on the idea of prosecuting his political rival. In his speech, Trump suggested that a group of Central American asylum seekers were a violent mob (if not in fact terrorists) who were sent to the United States by Democrats. Last week, Trump praised Republican Rep. Greg Gianforte for body-slamming a reporter who was trying to ask a question about health care.

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WE'LL BE BLUNT

It is astonishingly hard keeping a newsroom afloat these days, and we need to raise $253,000 in online donations quickly, by October 7.

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Readers also told us to just give it to you straight when we need to ask for your support, and seeing how matter-of-factly explaining our inner workings, our challenges and finances, can bring more of you in has been a real silver lining. So our online membership lead, Brian, lays it all out for you in his personal, insider account (that literally puts his skin in the game!) of how urgent things are right now.

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