Republican Texas Sen. Ted Cruz said Friday that the Democrats’ push to admit the District of Columbia as the 51st state was “part of a broader effort” to “maintain power.”
Cruz made the claim during an appearance of Fox News’ “The Faulkner Focus,” and argued that Democrats would rather focus on staying “in power forever,” than “doing anything substantive.” (RELATED: Democratic Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand Admits ‘There Are Grave Risks Associated With Eliminating The Filibuster’)
Host Harris Faulkner began the discussion by mentioning the passage of H.R. 51 on Thursday in the House of Representatives, which would give statehood to Washington, D.C. She noted that no Republican voted for the bill and that it’s not likely to pass through the Senate, citing Republican criticism. She then asked Cruz about the “incendiary comments” being thrown at Republicans for opposing D.C. statehood, such as Democratic New York Rep. Mondaire Jones calling their objections “racist trash.”
Cruz responded that the Democrats’ “go-to attack” is to accuse anyone who disagrees with them “of being a racist,” and that they’re “deliberately playing on racial divisions” in the country. He then said that their push for D.C. statehood was “part of a broader effort” to “maintain power.”
“We have Democratic control of the White House and both houses of Congress, and their number one priority, it’s not Covid, it’s not vaccinations, it’s not reopening jobs, it’s not getting kids back in school, it’s not doing anything substantive. Their number one priority is they want to stay in power forever,” he continued.
“So you look at what they’re pushing. They’re pushing D.C. statehood. Why? Because they want two new Democratic senators,” Cruz said. “They’re pushing H.R. 1, what many are calling the Corrupt Politicians Act, because they want to federalize elections, they want to register millions of illegal aliens and felons to vote, and keep Democrats in power for the next 100 years, and they want to pack the U.S. Supreme Court and add four new left-wing justices because they want to change the rules and maintain power.”
Cruz later argued that the chances of packing the Supreme Court and admitting D.C. as a state were “zero” as long as the Senate filibuster rule remained in effect. He added that as long as it takes 60 votes to move legislation forward, then the bills would be “dead on arrival” in the Senate.
“The Democrats know that. That’s why they want to change, blow up the Senate rules, end the filibuster in order to change the fundamental election rules. And so it all comes down to really Joe Manchin and Kyrsten Sinema, the lone two Democrats who’ve said they wouldn’t end the filibuster,” Cruz concluded. “If they end the filibuster they will make D.C. a state. If they end the filibuster they will pack the Supreme Court. This is all about power and that’s why there’s so much pressure on those two Democratic senators.”
Many Democrats have voiced their support in eliminating the Senate filibuster rule, which requires legislation to pass with a 60 vote majority, so that many of their key policy bills can pass, including D.C. statehood and changes to federal election law. Democratic West Virginia Sen. Joe Manchin and Democratic Arizona Sen. Kyrsten Sinema have both said they oppose eliminating the filibuster.