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The bizarre story of Houston murder suspect Victor Hugo Cuevas and his escaped pet tiger has gained a new weird chapter.
Eccentric big cat expert and Tiger King star (or villain, depending on your view) Carole Baskin has weighed in with her two cents on the debacle. She's laying the blame at the feet of Texas Republican Senators Ted Cruz and John Cornyn.
Baskin raked the Republicans over the coals during an appearance on CNN, which you can view below.
Tiger King’s Carole Baskin calls out Sens. Ted Cruz (R-TX) and John Cornyn (R-TX) over loose tiger in Texas. She s… https://t.co/RE6MOM25c4— The Recount (@The Recount) 1620820888.0
It may seem a ridiculous accusation at first blush, but it turns out Baskin kind of has a point.
As she told CNN's Brianna Keilar and John Berman, Cruz along with his counterpart Republican Senator John Cornyn both refused to sign legislation last year that may have prevented the tiger mess currently under way in Texas.
The Big Cat Public Safety Act, which was voted on last December, would have outlawed private ownership of big cats like the now-missing tiger, believed to be owned by Cuevas.
In her comments, Baskin urged GOP Senators Cruz and Cornyn to reconsider their position on the act, which Cruz publicly derided last year as simply Democrats trying to "prosecute Tiger King," the mega-viral Netflix reality show about big cat owner Joe Exotic (née Joseph Allen Schreibvogel) and his decades-long rivalry with Baskin.
According to Baskin:
"You know this is becoming kind of commonplace in Texas, and so I really hope that Senators Cruz and Cornyn sign on to the Big Cat Public Safety Act, because if they had last year... this wouldn't have happened this time."
Perhaps as a swipe at her Tiger King arch nemesis, Baskin also criticized big cat owners in general as "reckless":
"The only reason that people have tigers as pets is to try to show off to others that they are more powerful than the most powerful creature on the planet. That already tells you that the kind of people who own tigers are really dangerous, reckless people."
On Twitter, most people couldn't help but laugh at this new weird chapter in an already weird story.
2020 was nuts, yes, but 2021 has Carole Baskin being the voice of reason https://t.co/qhr3JAovMi— connectpoliticditto. (@connectpoliticditto.) 1620821702.0
the political beef no one asked for, ever https://t.co/5fGkR1v47j— chaotic good brandon 🇲🇲𓃰 (@chaotic good brandon 🇲🇲𓃰) 1620827697.0
@therecount It's Texas, the world's most notorious insane asylum.— paplanner13 (@paplanner13) 1620821888.0
Who else wants to see Ted Cruz and Carole Baskin fight? https://t.co/lvi4CBPbT8— JusticeJunkie (@JusticeJunkie) 1620830361.0
And of course, Baskin's criticism struck many others as ridiculous given rumors about her missing former husband.
@therecount She essentially owns her "big cats" privately too. She is just scamming the system as a 501(c)(3) while… https://t.co/DRP9rGCoeE— George (@George) 1620822151.0
Carole Baskin on CNN talking about a Tiger being on the loose connected to a murder suspect ... https://t.co/d2ZDWPqPSc— teatime75 (@teatime75) 1620821323.0
When you see Carole Baskin on CNN discussing escaped tigers and murder suspects https://t.co/smZajwXLuv— JSWilliams1962 (@JSWilliams1962) 1620821584.0
CNN's New Day has Carole Baskin on to discuss a murder suspect who's Tiger got loose in Houston and is now missing. https://t.co/mUYkx4BI0i— 💛 KrysMarie (@💛 KrysMarie) 1620820361.0
To be clear is the murder suspect Carole Baskin? https://t.co/o29zIFtMbU— Karsten Roberts (@Karsten Roberts) 1620821255.0
Carole Baskin on CNN talking about a Tiger being on the loose connected to a murder suspect ... https://t.co/5R0DU07FkB— MaltLiquorPapi (@MaltLiquorPapi) 1620822900.0
The Houston tiger is still at large as of this writing while Houston law enforcement investigate its disappearance.