Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Texas) said Republicans missed a “generational opportunity” to retake Congress in the midterm elections, and criticized Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) for placing personal politics above the party’s best interests.
“We had an extraordinary opportunity. We had a generational opportunity. This should have been a fundamental landslide election,” Cruz said on his podcast “Verdict with Ted Cruz” on Nov. 14.
Cruz added: “We should have won the House and the Senate. We should have a 30, 40, 50-vote majority in the House. We should have 53, 54, 55 Republicans in the Senate.”
Republicans lost control of the Senate after suffering losses in Arizona, Nevada, and Pennsylvania. The GOP is still expected to gain control of the House, though with only a slim majority.
After several races were called Monday night, Republicans are one seat away from the 218-seat majority needed to take control of the House. There are 13 uncalled races left.
Cruz criticized McConnell for the failure of the Republicans to win Arizona’s Senate race with GOP candidate Blake Masters.
“Mitch McConnell pulled the money out of Arizona. We could have won Arizona. We nearly won Arizona. And abandoning Blake Masters was indefensible,” Cruz said.
The Senate Leadership Fund (SLF), a political action committee with close ties to McConnell, slashed millions in campaign spending for the Arizona Senate race in the weeks leading up to the Nov. 8 election.
Cruz explained that SLF’s decision was made because Masters had said he would not support McConnell as leader in the next Congress.
“Because Masters said he would vote against Mitch McConnell. And so Mitch would rather be leader than have a Republican majority. If there’s a Republican who can win who’s not going to support Mitch, the truth of the matter is he’d rather the Democrat win,” Cruz said.
By Frank Fang
