In what appeared to be a moment of misspeaking, anti-LGBTQ+ Republican Sen. Ted Cruz (TX) said in a recent congressional speech, “How about we all come together and say ‘Let’s stop attacking pedophiles’?”

During a congressional hearing on the current president’s actions addressing crime in cities — which seems mostly to be insulting large city mayors, ignoring higher-crime areas in red states, and then sending in armed federal officers against the mayors’ wishes — Sen. Cruz referred to Sen. Cory Booker’s (D-NJ) plea for Democrats and Republicans to “come together and have bipartisan agreement.”

“I think that’s a great idea. We should have bipartisan agreement,” Cruz said. “How about we all come together and say, ‘Let’s stop murder’? How about we all come together and say, ‘Let’s stop rape’? How about we all come together and say, ‘Let’s stop attacking pedophiles’?”

  • DaddleDew@lemmy.world
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    3 hours ago

    The more time passes the more I realize how widespread the problem of rich and powerful people living under a completely different set of rules has taken effect. They are abusing this situation to a point where they have developed their own subculture and much looser morality standards. They can’t even help themselves but let it slip that they think that being a pedophile is considered normal now.

    And that’s just the tip of the lawlessness and moral depravity iceberg. We’ve seen on increasing occasions that they don’t even care about hiding it anymore because Trump has shown them that there are no consequences.

  • CerebralHawks@lemmy.dbzer0.com
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    2 hours ago

    Does Texas still prosecute poor people for sex crimes against children? If so, then Texas isn’t protecting paedophiles, they’re protecting the rich.

    Reddit also classifies paedophiles as a protected class and suggesting any violence against them (including saying they should face stiffer penalties/longer prison sentences) is grounds for a ban. It’s why they banned me.

    Take note of those who defend paedophiles. Then try to act surprised when it comes out they’re nonces, too.

    • Insekticus@aussie.zone
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      2 hours ago

      Yeah, that’s because Spez himself is a kiddy diddler and has filled the Reddit organizational structure with like-minded individuals to help shift the Overton Window and manufacture consent for child molestation; its not just “pedophiles” they’re protecting, they’re trying to protect the actual child molesters and child rapists.

  • givesomefucks@lemmy.world
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    5 hours ago

    Same article as September for those curious if Raphael did it again, it’s just an old article.

    • Lukas Murch@thelemmy.club
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      4 hours ago

      I have a feeling he was trying to say, “let’s stop calling people pedos”. That’s the best sane-washing I can do.

      Have we seen Cruz’s name in the ‘Trump Files - featuring Jeffrey Epstein’? Maybe he really is standing up for the Epstein class. He’s been known to lick Trump’s boots, every now and then.

      • GuyFawkesV@lemmy.world
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        3 hours ago

        Cruz is a piece of shit but I don’t recall seeing anything about him being the files, so guessing he’s just a bootlicker like you said.

        • fartographer@lemmy.world
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          2 hours ago

          It’s possible. It’s also possible that he just couldn’t afford to be in the Trump/Epstein files. Maybe his more affordable version of torturing children and animals is abandoning his dog during a freeze to fly to Cancun and then loudly blaming his children?

      • givesomefucks@lemmy.world
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        4 hours ago

        I mean…

        “I think that’s a great idea. We should have bipartisan agreement,” Cruz said. “How about we all come together and say, ‘Let’s stop murder’? How about we all come together and say, ‘Let’s stop rape’? How about we all come together and say, ‘Let’s stop attacking pedophiles’?”

        Seems pretty clear he had:

        Stop pedophiles

        In his head, realized he shouldn’t say that since he’s a spineless Republican and tried to pivot to:

        Stop attacking people

        And his mouth just said both at the same time meaning he said neither.

        The jumble that spilled out doesn’t matter, piece of shit that he is, he’s a great public speaker. He’s not trump or Biden who can’t string a sentence together. If he fucks up speaking it’s because he realized he was about to say something he couldn’t and panicked. So the value is in looking at what would logically have made sense in a debate for him to have said.

        It’s like GW Bush realizing he didn’t want a soundbite saying “shame on me”:

        There’s an old saying in Tennessee - I know it’s in Texas, probably in Tennessee - that says, fool me once, shame on - shame on you. Fool me - you can’t get fooled again.

        But we’re overdue for J Cole’s plan:

        Fool me three times, fuck the peace sign

        • ilinamorato@lemmy.world
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          2 hours ago

          Yeah, Cruz is a terrible person and should be in prison, but this was clearly just a slip of the tongue. We should be mad at him about real things.

  • kn33@lemmy.world
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    4 hours ago

    September 30, 2025

    Not that I think it’s unimportant, but I wish we’d keep things current here.

  • Lushed_Lungfish@lemmy.ca
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    1 hour ago

    Why? Have you people ever started? I mean, you’re cool with one running your fucked up third world country.

  • VitoRobles@lemmy.today
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    5 hours ago

    For the past decade, senator Rafael Edward Cruz, who immigrated here from Canada and who goes by a different name for some reason, continues to be the most shittiest human being to everybody. From dead naming people, to blocking social services, to fleeing Texas when it got too cold, texas being the state he immigrated to.

    Yet people keep voting for him.

    • voxthefox@lemmy.blahaj.zone
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      4 hours ago

      As a texan, it is crazy he is still a senator, our other senator, Corbyn, is equally as batshit insane but gets cover because Cruz gets all the press for his antics. Last election we were close to getting a democrat to oust Crus (Beto) but then just before the election the shooting happened in Beto’s hometown of El Paso and he went off the rails on gun control ,for a Texas democrat at least, which is basically a death kneel in Texas politics unfortunately and he ended up losing by a thin margin. It is unendingly frustrating to see the texas democratic party operate, constantly shooting themselves in the foot, pun intended.

    • chonglibloodsport@lemmy.world
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      3 hours ago

      Edward -> Ted is a pretty common preferred name. It’s very common for people to go by their middle or second name over their first. It’s also very common for Americans with non-English sounding names to adopt a more English-sounding name, whether it be a first name or a last name. For example, lots of Chinese people will have an English name they choose to go by, in addition to their legal Chinese name. And of course many trans people adopt different names post-transition, while not necessarily changing their legal name.

      You may be right in your implication that Ted Cruz prefers not to go by his birth name for political reasons. I just don’t like the association because of how it can affect all the people mentioned above. There’s nothing wrong with having a different preferred name from your legal name.

      • ThunderQueen@lemmy.world
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        2 hours ago

        My last name is spanish, but i pronounce it in public like an english word so that people can find it on lists 🫠