CNN called out Senator Ted Cruz (R-Tex.) for being “afraid” to face questions about gun violence —but Cruz turned the tables.
CNN host Christ Cuomo called out several prominent Republicans, including Cruz, and criticized them for going on Fox News in the wake of the mass shooting at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, Florida.
“What are they afraid of?” Cuomo asked, on his show, “New Day.” “The mistake we’ve been making is, we don’t say by name the lawmakers of that particular state and what they have done or refused to do. So this morning, let’s undo the mistake.”
Cuomo then named Sen. Marco Rubio of Florida, Gov. Rick Scott of Florida, and Cruz.
“Rubio calls it an inexplicable tragedy,” Cuomo added. “It is the most easily explained tragedy you can have. He knows why this happens. Then you have Ted Cruz. None would come on this morning. They’re all on Fox, the mothership because they don’t want to be asked about this.”
The three were later called out on Twitter by other CNN pundits.
However, Cruz didn’t go down without a fight —taking his grievance with the liberal Cuomo to Twitter to explain that he had, in fact, spoken with CNN reporters after the shooting. But CNN neglected to air his interview.
“Here’s a pic of the @CNN interview — a 15-min exclusive given yesterday — that y’all still haven’t aired… (While falsely claiming I’m “afraid” to talk to CNN),” Cruz wrote on Twitter. He included a photograph of him being interviewed by CNN on the steps of the U.S. Capitol.
Cuomo tried to explain his mistake, claiming that he meant they had refused an interview with CNN’s “New Day,” not necessarily CNN itself.
“Be clear: Cruz and others were invited to come on @NewDay and be tested about how to stop these shootings. They declined. If Cruz or others did an [interview] with Cnn thereafter fine, but they didn’t when we asked. Period. Offer stands. Anytime. Anywhere,” Cuomo explained, via Twitter.
Neither Cruz nor CNN has commented on Cuomo’s latest assertion.