Cruz to Republican Establishment: “Shut Up and Do Your Job” – by Calvin Freiburger

Conservative Senator and 2016 primary candidate Ted Cruz (R-TX) has little patience for #NeverTrump Republican politicians who think the biggest issue in America is their personal disdain for President Donald Trump.

The Hill reports:

“It’s like you’re back in junior high. … We’ve got a job to do, dammit, and so all of this nonsense, I got nothing to say on it. Everyone shut up and do your job, is my view,” Cruz told conservative radio host Mark Davis on Wednesday. TRENDING: 'Tough Luck, Don't Be a F***ing Trump Supporter': Low Life Portland Woman Shrugs Off Patriot Prayer Shooting Cruz was asked about Republican Sens. Bob Corker (Tenn.) and Jeff Flake (Ariz.), who offered blistering criticism of Trump on Tuesday, but he didn’t directly mention the two in his response. He added that Americans are “frustrated” by Republicans’ inability to make good on years-long campaign promises. “Well I think it’s unfortunate the nastiness that pervades Washington now and political battles of personality that consume seemingly every minute of the media attention and an awful lot of time and energy here in this town,” he said […] Discussing the GOP health-care effort, he argued that it was moderates, not conservatives, who had shelved the effort. “Alright big boys, we got a majority and you know who it is who is screwing up governing? It’s the so-called elder statesman moderates,” he said.

Here’s the audio of Cruz elaborating on his point, which is well worth your time:

Bingo. Almost nobody is saying Republicans and conservatives can’t or shouldn’t ever criticize Trump. I think his presidency has been a mix of highs and lows so far, I’ve expressed my frustration with him plenty of times, and I’ll be the first to agree how tiresome Sean Hannity-style apologists for any politician are.

But it really isn’t too much to ask of these guys that as they issue their ten-thousandth “I dislike X about Donald Trump” statement, they also take a few minutes to point out that the Democrats are incalculably worse by every measure, that they recognize that Trump’s flaws and mistakes are far from the only or the biggest problem in American politics right now.

When the American people see you endlessly railing against Trump for the exact same reasons the mainstream media says we’re supposed to hate him, yet they see you rarely or never mustering a fraction of that moral indignation for a laundry list of dirty deeds from the Democrats or for your more moderate Republican colleagues sabotaging an eight-year promise, you can’t blame us for suspecting that your anti-Trump posturing just miiiiiight be about something other than “conscience.”

At Conservative Review, Daniel Horowitz makes that point with a simple comparison between how Flake criticizes Trump and how Senator Rand Paul (R-KY) has criticized him:

Flake has stood for nothing in his Senate career other than promoting the agenda of the Mexican government and standing up to Trump. Yet, ironically, even while standing up to Trump, he has failed to do so on issues that matter to conservatives — or in a meaningful way. Rand Paul has taken a sledgehammer to Trump in a principled way that makes Flake’s entire brand seem pathetic. But because it’s been rooted in principles, Sen. Paul actually has a better relationship now with Trump and is moving him to the Right on some issues, despite their acrimonious start (both on the campaign trail and in office) […] Where Trump is helpful, he backs him up; where Trump is an obstacle, he opposes him more vociferously than Flake; where Trump can be influenced, which is the case on many issues, Rand is willing to negotiate.

Principle and objectivity really aren’t complicated … they’re just sinfully rare in Washington, DC.