During a Senate Judiciary hearing on white supremacy and domestic terrorism, Sen. Ted Cruz (R-TX) said that the "machinery of the federal government should not be used as a tool to target and persecute your political opponents."
Cruz went on to say that. over and over again, Democrats attempt to "politicize acts of violence," adding that they're trying to erase the history of the KKK, which was formed "by elected Democrats" and whose leadership "was almost entirely elected Democrats" as well as the "authors of Jim Crow laws."
Cruz said that Democrats use the "white supremacy" label to attack their political opponents while at the same time "diminishing anti-Jewish violence, anti-Asian violence, violence directed at white people, violence directed at police -- my view is simple: violence is always wrong whatever your ideology, left-wing, right-wing, no wings."
Cruz then listed examples of violent attacks carried out by Black nationalists, mentioning "the violence of the antifa riots and the Black Lives Matter riots that wracked this country" in the summer of 2020. "Stores were looted, police cars were fire-bombed, people were assaulted, people were murdered," Cruz said. "My colleagues on the Democratic side of the aisle sought to excuse, sought to apologize, four even went to so far to raise money to bail out of jail the violent rioters committing these acts of violence."
Cruz then listed examples of violent attacks carried out by Black nationalists, mentioning "the violence of the antifa riots and the Black Lives Matter riots that wracked this country" in the summer of 2020. "Stores were looted, police cars were fire-bombed, people were assaulted, people were murdered," Cruz said. "My colleagues on the Democratic side of the aisle sought to excuse, sought to apologize, four even went to so far to raise money to bail out of jail the violent rioters committing these acts of violence."