Were he alive today, Honest Abe would be disappointed in the evolution of his party. Like the Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump himself, Ted Cruz is far from a truth-teller. A quick look at Cruz’s record shows that the senator rightfully earned the nickname “Lyin’ Ted.”
TED CRUZ FALSELY CLAIMED THAT THE MAJORITY OF CRIMINALS ARE DEMOCRATS
Ted Cruz: “The overwhelming majority of violent criminals are Democrats.” “Now listen, here’s the simple and undeniable fact. The overwhelming majority of violent criminals are Democrats. The media doesn’t report that. What they report, and there’s a reason why the Democrats for years have been viewed as soft on crime, because they go in and they appoint to the bench judges who release violent criminals. They go in, and they do what Barack Obama tried to do, which is appoint a lawyer voluntarily represented for free, a cop killer, to a senior Justice Department position. They go in and fight to give the right to vote to convicted felons. Why? Because the Democrats know convicted felons tend to vote Democrat.” [Hugh Hewitt Show, 11/30/15]
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Washington Post: “Cruz is wildly off base… He can’t prove what he claims.” “Cruz is wildly off base when he claims that across the United States the ‘overwhelming majority of violent criminals are Democrats.’ The data that are the source of his statement were based on the party registrations of mostly black and Hispanic prisoners in just three states — and do not make a distinction between violent and nonviolent felons. In other words, the study does not show what Cruz claimed; in fact the authors specifically rejected his statement as a misinterpretation of their findings. He can’t prove what he claims with such great certainty and thus earns Four Pinocchios.” [Washington Post, 12/1/15]
TED CRUZ LIED ABOUT PLANNED PARENTHOOD
Ted Cruz said that Planned Parenthood was “profiting from the buying and selling of the body parts of babies.” “I encourage my colleagues to continue to fight to defund this organization that places more value on the sale price of babies’ body parts than it does on the sanctity of human life. We should not rest until we have done everything in our power to protect the life of unborn children. Ensuring no additional federal dollars go to the abortion industry or Planned Parenthood is a good place to start. This is why it is critical that we stand together to insist that not another dollar of our hard-earned money goes to a group profiting from the buying and selling of the body parts of babies.” [Senator Ted Cruz press release, 8/3/15]
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Investigations in 12 states cleared Planned Parenthood of charges that it profited off of the sale of fetal tissue. “Planned Parenthood acknowledges that one of its clinics in each of two states – Washington and California – supplies fetal tissue to researchers but says they comply with federal law barring a financial profit from the transactions. […] A medical ethicist tells us those fees seem to be a ‘reasonable’ reimbursement for the cost of supplying the tissue. An investigation by Washington’s attorney general cleared Planned Parenthood of charges it was profiting from the sales in that state. Investigations in 11 other states also have cleared the organization.” [PolitiFact, 2/8/16]
TED CRUZ LIED ABOUT OBAMACARE
Ted Cruz: “Obamacare…is the biggest job-killer in this country.” CRUZ: “We have seen now in six years of Obamacare that it has been a disaster. It is the biggest job-killer in this country. Millions of Americans have lost their jobs, have been forced into part-time work, have lost their health insurance, have lost their doctors, have seen their premiums skyrocket.” [Republican presidential debate, 1/28/16]
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PolitiFact: “By every measure, millions more people are working and millions fewer are stuck unwillingly in part-time work since the time the Affordable Care Act became law.” “Cruz said that Obamacare cost the country millions of jobs and had forced millions into working part-time. The government’s employment surveys show no sign of that occurring. By every measure, millions more people are working and millions fewer are stuck unwillingly in part-time work since the time the Affordable Care Act became law. The law might have affected part-time work for certain kinds of people, but that didn’t change the improvement in the overall numbers. Many of these numbers, especially the well-reported unemployment rate, are readily available and independent economic studies uncovered no sign that job growth has suffered at all under the new health care law. Cruz turned familiar data upside down. We rate this claim Pants on Fire.” [PolitiFact, 1/29/16]
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Associated Press: “Since the time Obama signed the health care law in March 2010, the nation’s jobless rate has fallen from 9.9 percent to 5 percent. The economy has added more than 13 million jobs over that period.” “Lost jobs? Since the time Obama signed the health care law in March 2010, the nation’s jobless rate has fallen from 9.9 percent to 5 percent. The economy has added more than 13 million jobs over that period. Lost insurance? The share of Americans without coverage reached a historic low of 9 percent last year, according to the government’s National Health Interview Survey. More than 16 million people gained coverage since 2013, just before the law’s big coverage expansion got underway.” [Associated Press, 1/29/16]
TED CRUZ LIED ABOUT CLIMATE SCIENCE
Ted Cruz claimed that data shows that climate change “ain’t happening.” “At an August event In California’s Orange County, Cruz told an interviewer, ‘If you look at satellite data for the last 18 years, there’s been zero warming. … The satellite says it ain’t happening.’” [Associated Press, 11/22/15]
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Satellite data shows continued warming over the past several decades. “Florida State University’s James Elsner said ground data show every decade has been warmer than the last since the middle of the 20th century and satellite data-based observations ‘show continued warming over the past several decades.’ In fact, federal ground-based data, which scientists said is more reliable than satellites, show that 15 of the 17 years after 1997 have been warmer than 1997 and 2015 is on track to top 2014 as the warmest year on record.” [Associated Press, 11/22/15]
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A climate scientist determined that Ted Cruz “understands less about science (and climate change) than the average kindergartner.” “Republican Sen. Ted Cruz of Texas had the lowest score, an average of 6. All eight put Cruz at the bottom of the class. ‘This individual understands less about science (and climate change) than the average kindergartner,’ Michael Mann, a Pennsylvania State University meteorology professor, wrote of Cruz’s statements. ‘That sort of ignorance would be dangerous in a doorman, let alone a president.’” [Associated Press, 11/22/15]
TED CRUZ LIED ABOUT THE OBAMA ADMINISTRATION’S SUPPORT OF TRANSGENDER AMERICANS
Ted Cruz lied about the federal government forcing school districts “to let boys shower with little girls.” “Cruz said the ‘federal government is going after school districts, trying to force them to let boys shower with little girls.’ Cruz’s vision of schoolboys everywhere showering with girls grossly distorts the issue. The fact is the Obama administration has sided with transgender students seeking access to school facilities including locker rooms, holding that anything less would violate federal anti-discrimination requirements. Such conflicts — few and far between — haven’t had to do with the government wanting boys to shower with girls. We rate the claim False.” [PolitiFact, 12/4/15]