Tea PartyÂ SenatorÂ Ted CruzÂ was booed off the stage last night while delivering the keynote speech to a Christian defense organization.

Cruz accepted an invitation to be the keynote speaker at a dinner of a “newly-funded,” militant organization,Â In Defense Of Christians, during theirÂ inaugural summit.Â The group is interested in only Christianity, claiming that “Christianity is the most persecuted religion in the world.” Apparently, the group, or at least some of its members, are anti-Semitic, or anti-Israel — something Cruz, a sitting U.S. Senator with a very large staff, should have checked into before accepting. The leadership of the group includes many right wing conservatives, including former George W. Bush Attorney General John Ashcroft, and people from Arab nations.

So last night in Washington, D.C., Cruz took to the stage.

He announced thatÂ â€œtonight, we are all united in defense of Christians. Tonight, we are all united in defense of Jews. Tonight, we are all united in defense of people of good faith, who are standing together against those who would persecute and murder those who dare disagree with their religious teachings.â€

â€œReligious bigotry is a cancer with many manifestations,â€ the Tea Party darling continued. â€œISIS, al-Qaida, Hezbollah, Hamas, state sponsors like Syria and Iran, are all engaged in a vicious genocidal campaign to destroy religious minorities in the Middle East. Sometimes we are told not to loop these groups together, that we have to understand their so called nuances and differences. But we shouldnâ€™t try to parse different manifestations of evil that are on a murderous rampage through the region. Hate is hate, and murder is murder. Our purpose here tonight is to highlight a terrible injustice, a humanitarian crisis.â€

â€œChristians have no greater ally than Israel,â€ Cruz continued.

That’s when the trouble started.

â€œThose who hate Israel hate America,â€ Cruz continued, despite the booing. â€œThose who hate Jews hate Christians. If those in this room will not recognize that, then my heart weeps. If you hate the Jewish people you are not reflecting the teachings of Christ. And the very same people who persecute and murder Christians right now, who crucify Christians, who behead children, are the very same people who target Jews for their faith, for the same reason.â€

â€œIf you will not stand with Israel and the Jews,â€ said Cruz, â€œthen I will not stand with you. Good night, and God bless.â€

Incredible! Sen. Cruz just walked off stage. Booed after saying “If you won’t stand with Israel & Jews, I won’t stand with you.” #IDCSummit â€” Jason Calvi (@jcalvi) September 11, 2014

In a statement after the diner, Cruz said “bigotry and hatred have no place in this discussion. Antisemitism is a corrosive evil, and it reared its ugly head tonight.”

It was probably there all along, but Sen. Cruz didn’t bother to check before accepting his invitation.

Watch:

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Transcript via The Daily Caller

Video viaÂ Jason Calvi

Image by Gage Skidmore via Flickr