President Obama has been sharp in his criticism of Republican posturing against Syrian refugees, and some of the Republicans are taking it personally—or trying to get personal benefit from it. Ted Cruz is way, way out in front of the pack, challenging the president to “insult me to my face.” Obama hasn’t actually named Cruz in any of his remarks so far, addressing the policies Cruz is proposing without naming him directly, but from the way Cruz is talking, you’d think the president had engaged in personal schoolyard taunting.
Cruz could barely contain his glee Wednesday as he spoke to reporters, saying “it’s fairly remarkable that President Obama has now chosen, two days in a row, to attack me directly. He just called me offensive the day before he called me un-American.” Again, mind you, Obama did not name Cruz. But Cruz really wants the Republican base to believe he did, because, wow, being personally attacked by President Obama? That is gold for a Republican primary candidate, and Cruz is looking to mine that gold.
Cruz also took the opportunity to frame himself as a spokesman for the fearful, saying Obama was “attacking me, and attacking everyone else in this country who believes we should not be bringing in tens of thousands of Syrian Muslim refugees that the Obama administration cannot vet to determine whether or not they are ISIS terrorists.” About that vetting process:
Refugees apply for resettlement at American embassies or through the United Nations. If they pass that first hurdle, they are screened by outposts of the Department of State all over the world. They undergo investigations of their biography and identity; FBI biometric checks of their fingerprints and photographs; in-person interviews by Department of Homeland Security officers; medical screenings as well as investigations by the National Counter-terrorism Centre and by American and international intelligence agencies. The process may take as long as three years, sometimes longer. No other person entering America is subjected to such a level of scrutiny.
But whatevs, this is all about Ted Cruz and his big chance to make the refugee crisis a story about Ted Cruz. Repeatedly noting that Obama had been outside the U.S. when making his comments referencing Cruz’ anti-refugee ideas, and implying that Obama had chosen to leave the country before daring to say such things, rather than being on a long-planned official trip that coincided with a major policy debate at home, Cruz said “he talked about how he was belittling the Republican field as scared. Well let me suggest something, Mr. President. You want to insult me, you can do it overseas, you can do it in Turkey, you can do it in foreign countries, but I would encourage you, Mr. President, come back and insult me to my face.”
Ted Cruz is so tough, so manly (is the message Republican voters are supposed to take from this, even as his policy ideas continue to be all about being afraid of victims of terror and war). But Cruz definitely got the advantage on any other Republican presidential candidate who might want to make hay of how horribly, awfully mean the president is being. Take Carly Fiorina, who gave it a shot, saying it’s “outrageous” that Obama is attacking Republicans and that he “is speaking in a way that is beneath this office.” (Fiorina’s preferred way of speaking can be characterized as “rapid-fire lying.”) But thanks to Cruz, Fiorina is unlikely to be more than a footnote in the “whaaaa, President Obama was mean” derby.
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