Texas Sen. Ted Cruz is calling on President Obama to "remove the blinders" in the fight against "radical Islamic terrorism" following an attack in Nice, France, Thursday evening that left at least 80 dead.

"Tonight, our close ally France is reeling from yet another major attack apparently carried out by radical Islamic terrorists," Cruz said in a statement late Thursday.

With the massacre in Nice being the third mass killing in France in the last year and a half, Cruz said "Let us make no mistake about it: Europe is under siege."

"We have to remove the blinders and recognize this for what it is: radical Islamic terrorism," he said, a clear jab at the president, who has been hesitant to tie recent terror attacks to the religion of Islam.

"We need to stop radicalized individuals from coming into the United States. We need to empower our law enforcement to target this specific threat, whether imported or homegrown," Cruz continued. "After seven and a half years of the Obama administration denying this danger, it is getting worse, not better. Willful blindness is not a policy."

The former Republican presidential candidate condemned the president's "lack of decisive action" in combating the threat of the Islamic State and related terrorist organizations and called for the U.S. to "redouble" its attack on Islamic State strongholds in Iraq and Syria. He suggested that "limited regional air strikes" are not preventing the Islamic State from playing "a longer game."

"They have used the last two years to establish a network of militants around the world from France to Bangladesh who are now coming to life," Cruz said. "They may be in the United States as well."

The driver of the truck that killed 80 people was shot and killed by police. It is unclear whether the driver had any ties to terrorist networks. The Paris prosecutor's office is conducting a terrorist investigation.