Leaving the country during a historic winter storm that left hundreds dead. Mansplaining. Tweeting during a Senate Rules Committee meeting. Sharing Russian propaganda videos to shame America’s “woke, emasculated military.” Publicly campaigning for the man who called your wife ugly and claimed your dad assisted with the assassination of President Kennedy. Terrible The Simpsons impressions. Shockingly, none of these misdeeds are on Ted Cruz’s list of 15 things that will get someone canceled in 2021.
Earlier this month, the Texas senator was a speaker at the Faith and Freedom conference, the “premier national event for people of faith and conservative activists.” He kicked off his speech by doing something radical: “I’m going to speak the truth.”
“America is great, Christopher Columbus discovering America was a good thing, George Washington was an American hero, Thomas Jefferson was an American hero, Abraham Lincoln was an American hero, our Founding Fathers were extraordinary patriots, America has been a force for good in the world, we should stand for our National Anthem, police officers keep us safe, marriage is a holy covenant before God, an unborn child is a child, children do best when they are raised by a mother and a father, Israel is our friend, the Wuhan virus came from Wuhan, and there is a difference between boys and girls.”
What does these 15 things — the last two of which elicited chuckles from the far-right audience — have in common? “I want you to pause and think for a second that just a few years ago, every one of those statements would have been utterly uncontroversial and blazingly obvious – even to the most dimwitted among us,” Cruz explained. “And today, we are at a moment where saying those words can get you canceled. Saying those words can get you fired. Saying those words can get you erased.” He must have been proud of himself, because although the speech was over a week ago, the senator shared this tweet into his feed on Sunday (after tweeting that the Left hates America).
One thing that won’t get you “canceled” apparently: amplifying false voter fraud claims, leading to a failed insurrection on the U.S. Capitol. Otherwise, Ted would be “erased.” Also, sharing articles that use photos that make you look much younger than you are.