Sen. Ted Cruz said the reason House Speaker Nancy Pelosi wants to delay the State of the Union is simple: She fears President Trump speaking directly to the American people during the government shutdown.

The Texas Republican told BlazeTV’s “Capitol Hill Brief” this week that public statements by Democrats on the State of the Union are rhetorical smoke and mirrors.

The California Democrat claimed security concerns prompted her to request a delay in his Jan. 29 speech to the nation. She later shifted her position to a matter of principle, given that Secret Service agents would be required to work the event and then receive back pay at a later date.

“Nancy Pelosi is terrified, number one, of her extreme left-wing base,” Mr. Cruz said Wednesday. “She is captive of them. And number two: The position of congressional Democrats in this shutdown is objectively unreasonable. In 2013, Chuck Schumer and every Senate Democrat voted in favor of 350 miles of border wall. They have right now shut down the government down to stop 234 miles of border wall. I don’t know how you explain why you voted for 350 miles, but you shut the government down to stop 234 miles. That is incoherent.”

Mr. Cruz added that the real reason Democrats want to delay Mr. Trump’s address is because it would allow shutdown analysis to be totally filtered through the mainstream media.

“The State of the Union is an enormous platform for the president to speak directly to the American people,” he said. “She doesn’t want people focusing on the substance of this issue. She wants their information to come from the mainstream media, rather than to come directly from the president.”

The president continues to demand $5.7 billion to fund a wall along the U.S. border with Mexico, although Democrats such as Mrs. Pelosi have called walls “immoral” and a waste of money.

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