Ted Cruz condemns ‘political posturing’ as he blames Doors for Robb’s elementary school shooting

Sen. Ted Cruz (R-TX) on Wednesday criticized “political posturing” after the killing of 19 children and two teachers at a Texas elementary school. The Texas senator, who was given more than $442,000 by gun rights groups, then spoke not about legislation that would crack down on firearms, but about a bill to “strengthen schools.”

Asked about the massacre by Fox News host Jesse Watters, near the scene of the shooting, Cruz conceded that “we have to do something.” But he then immediately threw cold water on sensible arms reform measures. In a similar comment to many others voiced on Fox over the past day, Cruz added, “But the something isn’t the empty political posturing of people like Beto O’Rourke showing up and trying to turn it into a political one Event instead of a briefing with the police about a horrific mass murder that just happened.”

On Wednesday, O’Rourke, the Democratic nominee for Texas governor, interrupted a news conference about the shooting of Republican Gov. Greg Abbott and Lt. Governor Dan Patrick.

“That’s up to you until you decide to do something else,” O’Rourke said. “That will continue to happen. Someone has to stand up for the children of this state or they will continue to be killed like they were killed yesterday in Uvalde.” O’Rourke also slammed Abbotts close relationship of the National Rifle Association, at whose annual meeting in Houston he is scheduled to speak, along with Cruz and ex-President Donald Trump.

Cruz, who stood behind Abbott, said he was “shocked” by O’Rourke’s comments.

“Taking something – you have grieving families, you have a community that’s torn to pieces and trying to politicize it and turn it into a rally like Beto did, it really was – I saw one a lot of crass behavior,” Cruz said. “It was embarrassing and it was gross.”

Cruz then mentioned a law he introduced in 2013 that he said “would spend $300 million on federal grants to harden schools” in the form of bulletproof glass and doors and armed police officers. He argued that it was necessary “to have a door in and out of school and to have that one door [with] armed police at that door.”

“If those federal grants had gone to that school, upon the arrival of that psychopath, the armed cops could have taken him out and we’d have 19 kids and two teachers alive,” Cruz said.

A school district police officer “attacked” the gunman outside Robb Elementary School but was shot and injured, authorities confirmed. There was no exchange of fire. The shooter then entered the building through “a back door.” According to the AP, he was later shot dead by a border patrol agent.