Ted Cruz has suffered an embarrassing blunder after calling on lawmakers to “stop attacking paedophiles” during a Senate hearing on Tuesday, sparking immediate gasps from colleagues and viral mockery across social media.
The 54-year-old Republican senator from Texas made the extraordinary gaffe whilst speaking at a Senate Judiciary Committee hearing on the Trump administration’s response to crime in cities, which the GOP-led committee had titled “Blue City Chaos and Tragedy: How the Trump Administration is Addressing the Human Cost of Soft On Crime Policies.”
Democratic and Republican politicians were heard murmuring and gasping in the chamber after Cruz’s slip-up, but their audible reaction did not stop the senator from barrelling through the remainder of his speech without correction. The moment was captured on C-SPAN and quickly went viral, garnering millions of views within hours.
The Gaffe That Shocked the Senate
Speaking passionately about the need for bipartisan cooperation on crime, Cruz attempted to rally his colleagues around shared objectives. “Senator Booker also said we should have bipartisan agreement. I think that’s a great idea — we should have bipartisan agreement,” Cruz said, seizing on Democratic Senator Cory Booker’s earlier remarks urging Republicans to work in a “bipartisan way” to keep communities safe.
“How about we all come together and say ‘Let’s stop murders,'” Cruz continued, his voice rising. “How about we all come together and say ‘Let’s stop rape.’ How about we all come together and say ‘Let’s stop attacking paedophiles.'”
The Texas senator clearly meant to say “Let’s stop paedophiles,” but remarkably did not catch his mistake. He immediately moved on to rattling off statistics about President Donald Trump’s crime crackdown in Washington, D.C., claiming homicides had fallen by 58 per cent, robberies by 57 per cent, and sex abuse crimes by 48 per cent in the nation’s capital.
A Cruz spokesperson later admitted to multiple outlets that the senator had made “a verbal slip” whilst “rattling off a series of crimes we should unite in opposing, started a sentence about opposing paedophilia, and added a stray word whilst talking it out.”
Social Media Erupts
The video clip spread like wildfire across social media platforms, with users expressing shock, confusion, and mockery. On X (formerly Twitter), the hashtag #TedCruzGaffe began trending within hours, with one user writing: “Ted Cruz wants us to stop attacking paedophiles,” alongside the viral clip that has now been viewed more than 10 million times.
“I am old and can’t tell if this video is manufactured, but Cruz does appear to say ‘let’s stop attacking paedophiles,'” one bewildered user posted. Another simply wrote: “I beg your pardon???”
Many users opted for a humorous approach, sharing memes and jokes about the senator’s blunder. “Ted Cruz says that you guys need to stop attacking Paedophiles it’s mean guys let them be apparently,” one account posted with laughing emojis.
When Cruz later shared several clips of his “passionate speech” on his own social media accounts, the few seconds containing the embarrassing gaffe were conspicuously absent from the footage he posted.
Timing Adds to Controversy
The gaffe’s timing proved particularly awkward, coming amid ongoing debates about the Jeffrey Epstein files on Capitol Hill. Cruz had previously called for President Trump to “absolutely” declassify files from the investigation into the late convicted child sex offender, stating in January: “We deserve to know who is implicated in abusing children.”
However, earlier this month, Cruz voted against a Democratic amendment to a defence policy bill that would have compelled the Justice Department to release all of the Epstein files, joining all but two GOP senators in blocking the effort. The amendment was narrowly defeated with a 51-49 vote.
Critics were quick to point out the irony, with one social media user commenting: “Look, we know that you voted against releasing the Epstein files, but you’re saying the quiet part out loud, Rafael!” — a reference to Cruz’s full name, Rafael Edward Cruz.
Previous Viral Moments
The incident adds to a growing collection of viral Cruz moments that have captured national attention. Just weeks ago, the senator made headlines with another theatrical display when he slammed ABC’s decision to pull Jimmy Kimmel off the air following the late-night host’s controversial remarks about the assassination of conservative activist Charlie Kirk on 10 September.
In what he called a move “right out of Goodfellas,” Cruz adopted a New York accent to criticise what he saw as potential censorship. “This is dangerous as hell,” he said, accusing the Federal Communications Commission of acting like a “mafioso.”
ABC had suspended “Jimmy Kimmel Live!” indefinitely after FCC Chair Brendan Carr threatened “to take action” against the network over Kimmel’s Monday night monologue, in which he said the “MAGA gang” was “desperately trying to characterise this kid who murdered Charlie Kirk as anything other than one of them.”
When Kimmel returned to the air, he thanked those who had advocated for his show’s return, including people who disagreed with his political views, adding sarcastically: “Even my old pal Ted Cruz.”
National Security Context
Cruz’s gaffe occurred during a hearing where he praised President Trump’s deployment of the National Guard to American cities. The hearing came as Trump had told top generals that dangerous US cities should be used as military training grounds, arguing that America was facing an “invasion from within.”
Trump had railed against Democratic cities such as Chicago, Portland, and Los Angeles, telling generals he had urged Defence Secretary Pete Hegseth to use “dangerous” cities as training grounds for the military, declaring: “We’ll straighten them out one by one.
Cruz strongly supported these measures, declaring during the hearing that “Democrat crime policies kill people” before making his unfortunate verbal slip.
Political Career Under Scrutiny
Ted Cruz, who has represented Texas in the Senate since 2013, has built a reputation as a combative conservative firebrand willing to challenge both Democrats and establishment Republicans. The Harvard Law School graduate previously ran for president in 2016, finishing second to Donald Trump in the Republican primary.
His latest gaffe, however, has provided fresh ammunition for his critics, who have long portrayed him as prone to grandstanding and theatrical displays. The incident is likely to feature prominently in political attack advertisements, with opponents already creating memes and video compilations of the moment.
Despite the widespread mockery, Cruz has not publicly addressed the gaffe or offered any clarification beyond his spokesperson’s statement. His office did not immediately return requests for additional comment about the incident.
As one political commentator noted on social media: “Of all the things Ted Cruz could have accidentally said, this might be one for the ages.”
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Image Credit:
Ted Cruz — photo by Gage Skidmore, cropped, licensed under CC BY-SA 2.0
