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On CNN, Sen. Ted Cruz (R-TX) blamed the left for threats that he is getting to his and his family’s personal safety.

Video from CNN:

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CNN Dana Bash put on her concerned face, and asked Sen. Cruz about threats to his personal safety. Cruz used his answer to suggest that the left was to blame for threats against his safety. Cruz said, “You know, some of that is a natural outgrowth of the animosity and venom. You know, I have to admit that I read Twitter daily, and I actually read a lot of those on the far left who are attacking me daily with incredible personal venom and nastiness. I think that’s really unfortunate. We should be able to treat each other with civility in public discourse. We should be able to treat each other with respect. I very consciously do not reciprocate the attacks that are launched my way, and in fact I don’t defend myself.”

Cruz then equated the left with a mentally ill person who threatened to murder Sen. Cruz, his father, and blow up the sun if he wasn’t given $3 million. Sen. Cruz was pulling a page straight out of the Sarah Palin playbook. Like Palin, Cruz claimed that threats were being made against both himself and his family. Cruz blamed attacks by the left for the threats.

Ted Cruz is trying to appeal to those tea party/evangelical Republicans by playing the martyr. Sen. Cruz always claims to be turning the other cheek, but this is all a big scam that the American people have seen before. Like Palin, Cruz is trying to take attention away from the criticism that he is getting from within his own party by constructing a threat to his physical safety from the left.

No one deserves to have their life threatened, but Cruz is promoting this adversarial environment by trying to deny access to healthcare to 30 million Americans. People are going to get angry when a sitting United States Senator tries to raise his political profile by lying about a law that will help and benefit millions of people. If Cruz wants to see more civility, he can start by telling the truth. Every lie that he tells about the ACA is another step towards harming civil discourse on healthcare.

Cruz claims he wants civil discourse and respect while he divides people by claiming that the left is attacking him with venom and nastiness. Cruz was asked generically about the threats that have been made against him, and he intentionally used his answer to plant the seeds of martyrdom in the minds of his supporters.

Ted Cruz is profiting from a fight that he picked, and a toxic environment that he created. Sen. Cruz is a more dangerous version of Sarah Palin, and he has got his eyes on a 2016 run at the White House.