Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Texas) on Monday warned Republicans not to lose the upcoming midterm elections to 'a bunch of radical extremists,' slamming Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-N.Y.) with a baffling swipe that left one critic noting, 'Talk about serious projection.'
Cruz appeared on Fox News after Ocasio-Cortez argued during a speaking event last week that the American Revolution was 'against the billionaires of their time' and defended her prior remark that billionaires can't actually 'earn' that much without the suffering of others.
'It was American free enterprise capitalists who invested in seeking freedom, and, by the way, AOC also said it is impossible for anyone to earn a billion dollars,' he told host Sean Hannity. 'Which, look, I recognize for her, given that she was a bartender, that is probably true.'
The Texas Republican continued, 'And there is no disrespect to bartenders. Bartenders are an honorable profession. But she went from that to being a government employee and a parasite sucking on the taxpayer.'
While it certainly appeared to be lost on him, critics quickly noted Cruz had just insulted himself — as he collects a government paycheck footed by taxpayers just as Ocasio-Cortez does — leading to some truly brutal reactions on social media to his confused 'parasite' dig.
'Spoken by someone who has never worked a day in his life,' wrote one X user, with another person commenting: 'How long had Ted Cruz been in government again? Has he ever done anything other than grandstand on Fox News and run to Cancun?'
Ocasio-Cortez worked as a bartender in the Bronx for several years to help her single mother fight foreclosure of their home following the 2008 financial crisis. Cruz attended Princeton and Harvard universities and has spent nearly his entire career in public office.
He frequently appears on Fox News and infamously fled Texas for Cancun in 2021 during historic winter weather. His constituents braved power outages, below-zero temperatures and flooded homes. Multiple Texas residents died trying to stay warm.
Cruz on Monday appeared personally affronted by Democrats such as Ocasio-Cortez. She called Elon Musk a 'billionaire con man' last year and said last week that the backlash to her criticisms of 'modern-day robber barons' is 'a veiled threat' by 'the elite.' Cruz claimed the American Revolution was only made possible by the wealthy, lauded Musk for his various businesses and warned Republicans about the midterms, stating, 'The stakes are, do we hand over the Congress and the country to a bunch of radical extremists?'
Critics weren't buying it, but mostly noted that Cruz had unwittingly insulted himself.
