Republican Senator Ted Cruz of Texas is falling out of conservative good graces for his recent rhetoric surrounding the deadly failed insurrection of January 6, 2021.
Earlier this month, Cruz faced immense backlash from far-right Fox News host Tucker Carlson and his viewers for referring to the insurrection as a "terrorist attack." The very next night, he appeared on Carlson's show to apologize for insulting people who beat cops.
Now, unhinged conspiracy theorist Alex Jones is blaming Cruz of the recent charges of seditious conspiracy against Stewart Rhodes and 10 other members of the far-right Oath Keepers militia.
The 48 page indictment, unsealed on Thursday, lays out how Rhodes and his co-conspirators organized combat trainings, weapons transports, and a coordinated infiltration of the U.S. Capitol—all with the goal of halting the joint congressional session certifying Biden's 2020 victory and installing Trump for another term.
Watch below.
Alex Jones today is blaming Ted Cruz for getting Oathkeepers leader Stewart Rhodes arrested yesterday. He said after Ted brought up the Ray Epps conspiracy, DOJ retaliated by arresting Rhodes. He also said that arrests need to stop because we “need peace” and to “come together.” pic.twitter.com/gub97Eknwy
— Ron Filipkowski (@RonFilipkowski) January 14, 2022
Jones said:
"We've asked why isn't Ray Epps being arrested. Stewart Rhodes has been indicted for doing absolutely nothing and not calling for breaching the Capitol to cover up for Ray Epps because Senator Ted Cruz and others brought it up in Congress as one of the top trending stories on Google and Twitter and Facebook and Instagram."
Capitol Rioter Ray Epps has been a major focus of right-wing conspiracy theories insisting he was a federal agent tasked with inciting the insurrection to discredit Republicans. Epps is on video encouraging Trump supporters to storm the Capitol on January 5, the day before the insurrection, to which Trump supporters mocked him with chants of "Fed! Fed!"
He was briefly on the Federal Bureau of Investigation's wanted list before being taken off without an arrest. While Epps did enter restricted grounds outside the Capitol—an offense that has largely gone uncharged by the Justice Department—there's no evidence that he entered the building itself. Epps also spoke with the House Select Committee investigating the insurrection, telling them he has never been a law enforcement agent or acted on behalf of a law enforcement agency.
Epps—a former Oath Keeper himself—was the subject of an article for the right-wing media outlet Revolver, which argued that the "puzzlesome FBI protection of known Epps associate and Oath Keepers leader Stewart Rhodes" amounted to a possible psy-op. This was, of course, before Rhodes was arrested for seditious conspiracy.
So much for that "FBI protection."
Social media users cackled that Cruz was falling out of favor with the far-right, whose approval he's courted since Trump's election.
Ya. Blame @tedcruz He did that. Lol. Keep roasting him! https://t.co/hVgVXmnz6K
— Just saying (@Kaboom68370235) January 14, 2022
When you've even lost Alex Jones.
🤣🤣🤣🤣 https://t.co/maWenWAwaW
— Truth Matters (@IreneK21) January 14, 2022
Really, @SenTedCruz ...really?
👏👏👏👏👏👏👏👏👏👏 - whatever gets the job done! https://t.co/iFFqWAa1OU
— NVBorn, LatinX, NM Navajo, STEM Granny (@hrisgirl) January 14, 2022
But what caught many people's attention was Jones' uncharacteristic calls to "come together" in "peace." This from a man who's insisted that school shootings are government orchestrations and that a deep state of cannibal pedophiles is ruling the world.
Because Alex Jones isn't merely an observer. Jones was allegedly an organizer of the "Save America" rally at the Ellipse, attended by many of the insurrectionists just before the attack on the Capitol began. He's been subpoenaed by the House Select Committee investigating the insurrection, and he's sued the committee in an effort to block the subpoena's enforcement.
This sudden talk of peace has people thinking Rhodes' arrest has Jones nervous.
Don't think I've ever seen him this terrified & pleady before.
He's big scared. https://t.co/sMmVw67FaU
— Skittles Is Meta AF (@Skittles_Is6) January 14, 2022
He means stop before they arrest him. https://t.co/SRBnrUl04j
— Being Vaccinated is Sexy (@c_nephobe) January 14, 2022
"We're so caught that now we have to pretend that we arent the ones calling for Civil War...we actually want peace" https://t.co/YxGJVgsjK5 pic.twitter.com/aOQi1f5Oog
— Lynda Fette (@FetteLynda) January 14, 2022
Alex Jones is next on the sedition list. https://t.co/uhNhaHchEG
— SlickT. (@Slick82658Tabor) January 14, 2022
Alex Jones is scared…..they pushed the boundary on sedition and insurrection and now are finding out… https://t.co/6eqPDgDafJ
— Alejandro Villegas (@thecorpmex) January 14, 2022
Jones says we “need peace” and to “come together” this MF is guilty https://t.co/mI0tS7zyIM
— Irish Kevin (@Kevin4bid) January 14, 2022
Good luck blaming Cruz for that one.