Mexican politicians trolling American Republicans has become something of a tradition in recent years, and Republican U.S. Senator Ted Cruz of Texas is just the latest target of the Mexican government's mockery.
Amid the country's ongoing crisis of murders of politicians and journalists, Cruz accused the Mexican government of "undermining the rule of law" for not doing enough to stop the violence.
Given Cruz's role in amplifying former Republican President Donald Trump's "Big Lie" about 2020 election fraud, Mexican officials haven't exactly taken kindly to his criticism, and Mexican Ambassador to the U.S. Esteban Moctezuma and President Andrés Manuel López Obrador quickly put Cruz in his place.
See Moctezuma's response below.
Open letter that Mexican Ambassador to the U.S. Esteban Moctezuma addressed to Senator Ted Cruz regarding his recent statements about Mexico.pic.twitter.com/1JKR3aRPa4— Embassy of Mexico in the U.S. (@Embassy of Mexico in the U.S.) 1645144778
In his open letter to Cruz, Moctezuma directly referenced the chaos of our 2020 election.
“You spoke about a 'breakdown of the rule of law'. I invite you to look at what happened in our federal elections last June. All parties, with no exception, accepted the results and kept moving forward to strengthen our democracy and freedom of expression."
Cruz had criticized the Mexican government during a recent Senate Foreign Relations Committee meeting, lamenting the "breakdown of the rule of law" in the country amid the soaring violence.
The accelerating breakdown of Mexican institutions and the rule of law under L\u00f3pez Obrador is a threat to US national security.\n \nToday, I pressed the Administration on the need to do more to stop and reverse this deadly trend.pic.twitter.com/h1ZAiNUB7c— Senator Ted Cruz (@Senator Ted Cruz) 1645062559
Cruz is not alone in his concerns and criticisms. Democratic Virginia Senator Tim Kaine recently joined with Republican Senator Marco Rubio to criticize Obrador and urge Secretary of State Antony Blinken to get involved in the crisis.
Many Mexicans, too, have lambasted Obrador's leadership on the matter, particularly given his constant populist attacks on the media. Obrador's combative relationship with journalists is frequently compared to that of former President Trump, of whom Obrador is a fan.
Be that as it may, you'd be hard-pressed to find an American politician less qualified to criticize a country's "breakdown of the rule of law" than Cruz, one of many voices who supported an unconstitutional overturn of the 2020 election.
In his criticism of Cruz, President Obrador was even less sparing than Moctezuma, saying during a press conference in the Mexican state of Chihuahua he considers Cruz's criticism a point of pride.
“If he praised me, I might start thinking we weren’t doing things right. But if he says we are wrong, well that for me is something to be proud of.”
And on Twitter, people joined in on bashing Cruz's hypocrisy--especially since it arrived on the one-year anniversary of his Cancun scandal last year.
Seditious prick Rafael Ted Cruz has the actual nerve to accuse Mexico of undermining the rule of law when he in fact his a criminal who sycophants for one of the biggest criminals in US history.\n\nMexico responded to him by saying at least their candidates concede defeat.— Ricky Davila (@Ricky Davila) 1645377777
Mexico should pass a law that permanently bans Ted Cruz from visiting Cancun.https://twitter.com/Juakar/status/1494878564860129285\u00a0\u2026— Charles Campisi (@Charles Campisi) 1645296981
Is Ted Cruz going to take Cancun off his itinerary? Because they\u2019re not having any of his criticism.\n\nMexico\u2019s president & an ambassador hit back at Cruz saying that political candidates in Mexico accept their defeat.\n\nBurn!\n\n#wtpBLUEhttps://www.huffpost.com/entry/ted-cruz-mexico-comments_n_6212c7ace4b0f2c343f6259c?utm_campaign=share_twitter&ncid=engmodushpmg00000004\u00a0\u2026— Jennifer Bennon (@Jennifer Bennon) 1645473281
Ted Cruz colluded with the January 6 terrorists by voting against the legal, democratic election of Joe Biden.\n\nHe cheered for the trucker-terrorists in Canada.\n\nBut he attacks Mexico for a "breakdown of the rule of law."\n\nSounds like Teddy is still pissed at a waiter in Canc\u00fan .— Victor Laszlo (@Victor Laszlo) 1645401600
The Mexican ambassador to the U.S. said that at least its political candidates concede when they lose elections. \n\nCancun Cruz is just salty that he can't slip in a Mexican vacation without everyone noticing https://twitter.com/EmbamexEUA/status/1494471637089284098\u00a0\u2026— Sabrina McDaniel (@Sabrina McDaniel) 1645406367
MIC DROPhttps://twitter.com/dallasnews/status/1495100121629011971\u00a0\u2026— Juan Escalante (@Juan Escalante) 1645374303
This is chicken soup for our soulshttps://twitter.com/Juakar/status/1494878564860129285\u00a0\u2026— Red Mystique, RN, BAN, MBA \ud83c\udf0a\u2764\ud83c\udf08 (@Red Mystique, RN, BAN, MBA \ud83c\udf0a\u2764\ud83c\udf08) 1645293311
@SenTedCruz has really achieved the trifecta hasn't he -- every country is North America now hates himhttps://twitter.com/tedcruz/status/1492152321509314566\u00a0\u2026— Grace Alexander (@Grace Alexander) 1645416616
LOL poor @tedcruz. Owned AGAIN. @JustinTrudeauhttps://twitter.com/CBSDFW/status/1494784773004353541\u00a0\u2026— Dr Ellen Ripley \ud83c\udf3c\ud83c\udf0a\ud83c\udf08\ud83d\udc89 #FDJT #1619Project #DC51 (@Dr Ellen Ripley \ud83c\udf3c\ud83c\udf0a\ud83c\udf08\ud83d\udc89 #FDJT #1619Project #DC51) 1645293893
Everybody Hates Tedhttps://twitter.com/kylegriffin1/status/1495737568234819590\u00a0\u2026— \ud835\ude8b\ud835\ude8a\ud835\udea1\ud835\ude9d\ud835\ude8e\ud835\ude9b \ud835\ude8b\ud835\ude8e\ud835\ude8a\ud835\ude97 (@\ud835\ude8b\ud835\ude8a\ud835\udea1\ud835\ude9d\ud835\ude8e\ud835\ude9b \ud835\ude8b\ud835\ude8e\ud835\ude8a\ud835\ude97) 1645459904
In addition to amplifying Trump's "Big Lie," Cruz has also joined the chorus of conspiracy theorists baselessly claiming that the January 6 insurrection was an FBI-incited false flag operation. He might want to stay out of the discourse on "the rule of law" in the future.