Ted Cruz has been reelected. The moment was greeted on MSNBC with a somber tone, extended moments of silence and a bizarre analogy from liberal host Chris Hayes. Reporting live from the Beto O’Rouke “victory” party, Hayes repeated this ugly comparison: “Someone earlier tonight, a Texas Democrat who is elected, described the math in Texas like being in a prison and trying to get over a wall.”

Continuing the prison break imagery, he added, “It's a tall wall and it’s really hard. And Beto has done a lot to get up over that wall. It looks like he's going to fall short.” Offering the old Texas Democrat excuse of moral victories, Hayes spun, “I also just talked to a Texas source who said already it's the best night, to put this in perspective, for Texas Democrats in a generation.”

Watch the video below to hear the silence as the MSNBC crew processes the Cruz victory.

Rachel Maddow mourned the Texas loss: “For it to be called at this point after watching it on such a knife edge is a blunt ending to this.” She described the MSNBC reaction this way: “We’re absorbing this news.”

For more on media predictions of an O’Rourke win, go here.

A partial transcript is below: