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’?”


For the past decade, senator Rafael Edward Cruz, who immigrated her 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.
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.
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.