Washington, DC — Republican Sen. Ted Cruz used transgender people and Muslims as political punchlines Saturday while discussing Republicans’ struggle to hold competitive Senate seats ahead of the Nov. 3 midterms.
During a Fox News interview with Alaska Sen. Dan Sullivan, Cruz acknowledged that Republicans could lose between five and eight Senate seats if conservative voters fail to turn out. Fox News currently rates Sullivan’s unexpectedly competitive race against Democrat Mary Peltola as a toss-up.
Asked why Republicans are facing so many close contests, Cruz said anger among the opposition party often drives midterm turnout. He then caricatured Democratic voters as “left-wing transgender witches” who hate President Donald Trump.
Cruz went further, contrasting those voters with what he called “regular, ordinary Americans” who are “not lunatics” and “don’t think Communism and Islamism are a good idea.”
The remarks combined attacks on transgender people with rhetoric invoking Islam as part of a broader depiction of Democratic voters as dangerous or abnormal. Cruz offered no evidence connecting Democratic voters generally with either communism or Islamism.
His comments come as Republican candidates increasingly deploy transgender issues and attacks involving Muslim political figures during the closing weeks of the campaign.
Despite Cruz’s confidence that Republican turnout could rescue vulnerable candidates, he conceded the Senate battlefield remains close enough that Democrats could emerge with a substantial majority.
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