Beto O’Rourke calls Ted Cruz ‘curse upon people of Texas’, claims his vacations trigger natural disasters

HOUSTON, TEXAS: Former Texas Congressman Beto O’Rourke sharply criticized Senator Ted Cruz during an appearance on the Hasan Minhaj 'Doesn’t Know' podcast, accusing the Republican lawmaker of neglecting his constituents and undermining American democracy.

Minhaj noted a peculiar coincidence: Cruz was vacationing abroad during major crises in Texas, first during the 2021 statewide power outages and again amid severe flooding this past summer.

Beto O’Rourke slams Ted Cruz as ‘A Curse on Texas’

Hasan Minhaj, who called Beto O’Rourke a “Ted Cruz expert,” asked why Cruz always seemed to be on vacation at the worst possible times. “Is it Ted Cruz landing and then causing natural disasters, or does the natural disaster start and he decides to skedaddle?” he joked.

O’Rourke agreed with the observation and took it a step further. “I think he’s a curse upon the people of Texas any way that you put it,” he said, adding, “It’s clear that he doesn’t care about the people that he purports to serve or represent. You know, that should be damning in and of itself. And for me, it is.”

He then shifted to more serious allegations, accusing Cruz of playing a role in efforts to overturn the 2020 presidential election.  

“Even worse, and you know, this wasn’t the case in 2018, but it certainly was in 2021, his effort to incite an insurrection against the country’s government in which he serves, to try to overturn a lawfully, fairly, democratically decided election,” O’Rourke said.

He went on to argue that Cruz’s actions should disqualify him from holding office entirely. “In my opinion, that should bar him from any public service and really should prompt an investigation by the Department of Justice into his role in that insurrection attempt on January 6, 2021,” O’Rourke added, lamenting that the previous administration’s DOJ failed to prosecute Cruz, Donald Trump, and others he believes were responsible. “The fact that we nearly lost what Lincoln called ‘The Last Best Hope of Earth.’”

O’Rourke is facing possible jail time after Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton accused him of defying a court order by continuing to raise funds for Texas Democrats who left the state to block Republican-led gerrymandering efforts. 

Ted Cruz’s summer abroad and on-air clash with Tucker Carlson

Ted Cruz’s trip to Greece during the Texas flooding this summer sparked widespread criticism, echoing the backlash he faced for flying to Cancun during the 2021 winter storm. The senator also made headlines in June after an awkward exchange on 'Tucker Carlson Tonight,' where Carlson challenged him on his knowledge of Iran amid a debate on US foreign policy toward the country.

“How many people live in Iran, by the way?” Carlson asked. “I don’t know the population at all … I don’t know the population,” Cruz admitted.

Carlson responded incredulously: “You don’t know the population in the country you seek to topple?” before supplying the answer, approximately 92 million, and adding, “How could you not know that?”