Ted Cruz Shut Down Gun Responsibility Laws After Sandy Hook, New Super PAC Ad Brags

Is this the most reprehensible man in the 2016 presidential field?

This is a good attack ad, but that’s not the reason I bring it up. Of course the Cruz camp is attacking Rubio. Cruz is banking on the race coming down to an establishment candidate (that’s Rubio, even though his tax plan is insane) and a Tea Party candidate. Cruz also expects Trump and Carson to burn out, leaving him in the prime attacker spot. None of this is really noteworthy.

What is worth noting is this tiny five-second sentence in the ad: “After Sandy Hook, Ted Cruz stopped Obama’s push for new gun control laws.”

This is some kind of bravado from the Cruz people. They’re promoting Cruz’s refutation of commonsense laws which were introduced after one of the most grotesque crimes in American history. They’re proud of his protestation of Obama’s attempts to stop a similar massacre of children. Senator Chris Murphy of Connecticut had even harsher words for the ad:

The new Ted Cruz ad makes me want to throw up, and I’m pretty sure that’s a feeling shared by many who lived through the horror of Sandy Hook. If Ted Cruz wants to brandish his pro-gun credentials to Republican primary voters, that’s his right. But it’s sick that he thinks he’ll win votes by specifically pointing out that in the wake of 20 dead first graders, he was the face of the fight to ensure no action was taken to stop more deranged killers from walking into elementary schools with military-style assault weapons loaded with 30-round clips of ammunition. Showing off how callous he was in the aftermath of the Sandy Hook shooting may win him some right wing votes that get swept up from Donald Trump or Ben Carson, but it disqualifies him in a general election. Middle-of-the-road, common sense voters support measures like expanded background checks. But more importantly, they won’t be impressed by a campaign whose opening pitch to voters is portraying the candidate as the one Senator who took on the parents of Sandy Hook in the wake of the most horrific mass shooting in our lifetime.

This pro-Cruz ad is the most reprehensible of the entire presidential campaign so far. The fact that his people believe Cruz’s defense of gun violence is to be respected is downright frightening.