Sen. Ted Cruz, R-Texas, told Newsmax on Tuesday that one of the side effects of President Donald Trump's border policy is that "it has driven the Democrats certifiably insane."
"They are lunatics," Cruz said on "Carl Higbie FRONTLINE." "The Democrats have decided let's go down to El Salvador and say if you elect Democrats, we will bring in more illegal aliens who are MS-13 gang members."
Several Democrat lawmakers have traveled to El Salvador in recent days to lobby for the return of a Salvadoran man who was deported and whom the Trump administration has accused of being an MS-13 gang member.
Cruz also pointed to the cases of two Democrat judges who are currently in jail for "actively fighting against the enforcement of law" and shielding illegal immigrants from federal immigration authorities.
"You have a judge in New Mexico – I talked about this on my podcast 'Verdict with Ted Cruz' – who was hiding a Tren de Aragua gang member, a Venezuelan gang member, in his home, who took the gang member's cell phone, destroyed it with a hammer and threw it in a dumpster so there would be no evidence of this guy," Cruz said. "This guy's cell phone had pictures of two decapitated victims on it, and Democrats are actively hiding the gang members.
"It is utterly bizarre, but it is because Trump has caused their brains to melt," he added. "Today, Democrats are very honest. You elect Democrats, you get more illegals, more gang members, more murderers, more criminals."
Earlier on Tuesday, Trump said that "the border is in great shape," with a 99.9% success rate of stopped illegal border crossings. The Texas senator hailed the Republican president's progress as "a massive victory" and said "it is exactly what he promised the American people."
"In November, we had a clear mandate from the American people," Cruz said. "It was unequivocal. You look at President Trump, he was reelected, he won the popular vote. Of the seven swing states across the country, President Trump won all seven. That was clear and unambiguous. The voters likewise gave us a Republican House and a Republican Senate.
"The Rio Grande Valley, which has been bright blue for 100 years, flipped red," he continued. "Trump carried the valley, and I carried the valley, and the open borders of the last four years was a huge part of the reason. The American people said enough already with open borders, with 12 million illegals invading this country, with murderers and rapists and gang bangers being released. In the first 100 days, Donald Trump has delivered on that promise and we've seen, as he just said, illegal border crossings drop over 99.9%. That's staggering."
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Nicole Weatherholtz ✉
Nicole Weatherholtz, a Newsmax general assignment reporter covers news, politics, and culture. She is a National Newspaper Association award-winning journalist.
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