Democrats have called on Sen. Ted Cruz (R-TX) to denounce an outburst heard on live-stream audio during his speech at the Republican National Committee midterm convention.
While Cruz spoke about leftist figures such as controversial streamer Hasan Piker and New York Mayor Zohran Mamdani, a voice seemingly from the audience could be heard yelling, “He should be shot.” Cruz had finished saying that Mamdani wants to “seize the means of production,” when the outburst was heard.
The clip from the C-SPAN live feed was then blasted on social media by former Vice President Kamala Harris’s progressive content media hub, Headquarters.
Rep. Debbie Dingell (D-MI) was among the first Democrats to respond to the video, saying the phrase was “chilling and disturbing.”
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“Threats of political violence are dangerous, unacceptable, and have no place in our democracy,” Dingell said. “I pray for the safety of all my colleagues on both sides of the aisle. This is clear hate, and we must stand up to it wherever and whenever we see it.”
House Minority Whip Katherine Clark (D-MA) was next to chime in, directly calling on Cruz to address the outburst.
“There is no place for political violence in America. Period,” she said. “Every single Republican should denounce this dangerous rhetoric immediately — starting with @TedCruz.”
The Washington Examiner has reached out to Cruz for comment.
The phrase was shouted from the crowd while Cruz was drawing on the Maya Angelou quote, “When someone shows you who they are, believe them.” The senator offered up an example frequently cited by the GOP of Piker having said America “deserved” 9/11, which the streamer has since said was taken out of context.
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Piker responded to the clip on X, saying the remark captures behavior Republicans often attribute to the Democrats.
“this is at the republican convention. the right loves doxxing & calling for assassinations, then claiming the left are the violent ones. they delete doj studies showing they’re responsible for the largest share of political violence & try to rewrite reality in front of our eyes,” Piker posted.
Cruz spent much of his time on the stage setting the stakes for the midterm elections, homing in on what he called hate from the left. He said Islamists and Communists have made a “dangerous red-green alliance” and they “hate America.”