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Senator Ted Cruz, a Texas Republican, was criticized after complaining about rising gas prices only to then join the "People's Convoy" of truckers that has blocked the Washington, D.C. Beltway to protest COVID-19 vaccine mandates and restrictions.
Cruz attempted to seek an audience with the truckers and was deemed hypocritical for complaining about gas prices while backing a driving protest that has for days burned expensive diesel.
You can view Cruz greeting the convoy in the video below.
And look who is the first member of Congress to show up out at the Trucker Convoy - populist man-of-the-people, Ted Cruz.pic.twitter.com/A0mTWhKddh— Ron Filipkowski (@Ron Filipkowski) 1646927479
Cruz's actions are especially inconsistent because the evening before he attended the protest, he told Fox News that the Biden administration's energy policy is "completely incoherent" and complained that many Americans are feeling the pain of inflation at the gas pump.
Cruz alleged that President Joe Biden had entered office ready to wage "war against domestic energy production."
His remarks also bring to mind similar commentary from Representative Jim Jordan, an Ohio Republican who was ridiculed for asking his followers if they remembered "how cheap gas was" when former President Donald Trump was in office, which is incorrect given available data from the federal Energy Information Administration.
Cruz's actions received swift condemnation
Ted Cruz trying to co-opt truckers after leading the charge against securing their pensions is a hell of a thing.\n\nMaybe he was hitching a ride to Cancun?https://twitter.com/RonFilipkowski/status/1501948824918499344\u00a0\u2026— Chris Avros (@Chris Avros) 1646944448
Scum bag Cruz is delusional. He wants to be POTUS. He will one day become president of the Losers Club.https://twitter.com/RonFilipkowski/status/1501948824918499344\u00a0\u2026— Prem Setaram (@Prem Setaram) 1646943445
Praying he is this happy and waving and giving the thumbs up when his dumba** is voted out!https://twitter.com/ronfilipkowski/status/1501948824918499344\u00a0\u2026— Just Julia (@Just Julia) 1646934767
So, tell me you are full of it without saying you're full of it. I'll go first. (See video)\n\nTed Cruz cruised around DC after he complains about the rising gas prices and how much work he has to do.\n\nMake it make sense. \n\n#DemVoice1 #ONEV1 #BlueVoices https://twitter.com/RonFilipkowski/status/1501948824918499344\u00a0\u2026pic.twitter.com/snewTKWiSH— \ud835\udc0a\ud835\udc1a\ud835\udc26\ud835\udc22 \ud83d\udc9c (@\ud835\udc0a\ud835\udc1a\ud835\udc26\ud835\udc22 \ud83d\udc9c) 1646934992
What an idiot. How embarrassing for Texas!!!https://twitter.com/RonFilipkowski/status/1501948824918499344\u00a0\u2026— Indi_Tx27\ud83d\udef9 (@Indi_Tx27\ud83d\udef9) 1646936078
Ted Cruz, poster boy for Republican hypocrisy. \n"Damn that Biden, gas prices are too high!"\n"I know! I'll ride around in a big gas guzzling truck to protest....???"\ncc: @tedcruz \n @SenTedCruzhttps://twitter.com/RonFilipkowski/status/1501948824918499344\u00a0\u2026— Colleen Shannon (@Colleen Shannon) 1646937605
Is this what the People of Texas paid #TedCruz to do. Drive around in a Truck waiving his thumb while Texans are fight for healthcare, food, good paying Jobs and good schools to send their children. WASTE OF MONEY.\n@tayhlorcoleman @BetoORourke @TurnTexas_Blue @Texas1News @AP RThttps://twitter.com/ronfilipkowski/status/1501948824918499344\u00a0\u2026— Yvonneblue (@Yvonneblue) 1646939223
What a big way to lose the American vote. Keep it up cruz.https://twitter.com/ronfilipkowski/status/1501948824918499344\u00a0\u2026— margaret flowers (@margaret flowers) 1646934537
Throw an insurrection or convoy to protest a Covid mask mandate during a pandemic, and Ted Cruz is there to cheer you on.https://twitter.com/ronfilipkowski/status/1501948824918499344\u00a0\u2026— Jimsterdotcom (@Jimsterdotcom) 1646934578
Cruz's appearance at the protest no doubt won him points among those who've backed him for speaking out against vaccine mandates as the nation continues to contend with the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic.
The D.C. protest was inspired by Canada's "Freedom Convoy," a protest led by Canadian truckers who've pushed back against COVID-19 vaccine mandates.
The convoy, comprised of a minority of the country's truckers who've retaliated after the United States and Canada agreed to COVID-19 vaccine requirements for truckers to re-enter the country by land, for weeks garnered headlines amid concerns that organizers and groups have been involved with white nationalist contingents, QAnon, and other far-right groups.
Last month, Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau evoked the country's Emergencies Act for the first time since its passing in 1988, kicking off a large-scale operation that ultimately cleared the majority of protesters and dismantled much of the movement.