Texas Republicans plan rally in support of “courageous” Ted Cruz

A local Republican party in Texas has announced plans to host a support rally in honor of the state’s junior senator, Ted Cruz.

Saturday’s event in San Antonio is being organized by the Republican Party of Bexar County.

“Please join us to show your support for Ted Cruz as he stands for our President, Truth and the rule of law,” the group tweeted. A flyer shared on Twitter urged people to “come show support for our courageous senator.”

Cruz has drawn criticism in recent weeks over his apparent support for Donald Trump and the former president’s claims of a “stolen election.”

At the beginning of the month, he voted in the Senate against certifying Joe Biden’s electoral college victory, effectively endorsing Trump’s baseless assertion of widespread voter fraud in the 2020 presidential election.

Cruz’s loyalty to the former president earned him plaudits among some factions within the Republican party while opponents cited the move as evidence he would support the outgoing president at any cost.

Cruz voted against certifying election results from the states of Arizona and Pennsylvania—one of seven Republican senators to attempt to impede Biden’s path to the White House.

Earlier this week, Cruz appeared on Fox News where he explained the decision, saying he believed he had an obligation “to protect the integrity of the election and to protect the integrity of the democratic system.”

The Calgary, Canada-born senator drew fire from his critics in the immediate aftermath of the rioting mob that besieged the U.S. Capitol after he appeared to amplify Trump’s unsubstantiated claims the vote was “rigged.”

“Look, are they going to try to steal it, yes, but I’ll tell you what we’re gonna do, we’re gonna win by a wide enough margin, ain’t nobody’s stealing the state of Georgia,” Cruz said in the days before the violence.

He later dismissed allegations he had incited the mob, insisting he was not “remotely” responsible.

He also criticized efforts to convict Trump in the ongoing impeachment process and warned that the action could open up former presidents Jimmy Carter, Bill Clinton and Barack Obama to a similar fate.

“They hate Donald Trump,” Cruz said during the Fox interview. “For anybody who hadn’t been paying attention, they made it very very clear. Look, these are the same Democrats who four years ago in 2017—actually, in December of 2016 before Trump was sworn in—said they wanted to impeach him. They’ve wanted to impeach him from the beginning. They did it a year ago.

“I guess next year, I don’t know, maybe it’ll be the impeachment of Jimmy Carter or the impeachment of Bill Clinton or the impeachment of Barack Obama because that’s what we do in Januaries.”

In recent days Cruz has pushed for a proposed amendment to the Constitution that would place term limits on members of Congress.

“The rise of political careerism in today’s Congress is a sharp departure from what the Founders intended for our federal governing bodies. I have long called for this solution for the brokenness of Washington, D.C., and I will continue fighting to hold career politicians accountable.

“As I have done in the past, I urge my colleagues to submit this constitutional amendment to the states for speedy ratification,” Cruz said in a statement.

Newsweek contacted Cruz requesting further comment in relation to claims he was partly responsible for inciting the Capitol rioters, which he has denied.