Texas Senator Ted Cruz is under fire for an off-color remark about Donald Trump and MSNBC hosts Joe Scarborough and Mika Brzezinski. During a segment on Hannity , Cruz made what he likely thought was a humorous mocking of the pair, but the crude imagery he painted turned the spotlight back onto his own history of fawning over Trump in the past.
Hannity: You have Joe and Mika going to Mar-a-Lago to kiss the ring and suck up to Donald Trump, Cruz: I’m not even sure they were kissing the ring. I thank they were kissing a little bit lower than that. pic.twitter.com/uisOaYNOKU
— Acyn (@Acyn) December 3, 2024
While discussing the duo’s meeting with Trump , Sean Hannity quipped, “Then you have Joe and Mika go to Mar-a-Lago and kiss the ring, and suck up to Donald Trump. You can’t make that story up.” Cruz, eager to jump in, took it further. He said, “Well, I’m not even sure they were kissing the ring. I think they were kissing a little bit lower than that.” The joke has drawn sharp criticism, with many pointing out the hypocrisy of Cruz mocking others for ‘sucking up’ to Trump.
Welp, Ted Cruz would be the expert on that. https://t.co/kG7CaSrcX0
— Hadley Sheley (@HadleySheley) December 3, 2024
“Cruz should have knowledge on that subject,” one user said . Another quipped , “Hey Ted, Trump called your wife ugly and falsely accused your dad of assassinating JFK.” In a similar vein, a comment also read , “So Cruz and the Joe and Mika twins have quite a bit in common it appears.” A person echoed , “The hypocrisy. As always…” As the comments poured in, another trolled , “Well, this continues to age extremely well.”
These Republicans have a similar theme like Pete Hegseth and Matt Gaetz. So gross.
— Dog House Show (@Dog_House_Show) December 3, 2024
Cruz has a well-documented history of bending to Trump’s will, despite enduring personal attacks from the President-elect. During the 2016 presidential campaign , Trump insulted Cruz’s wife, Heidi, calling her unattractive and threatening to ‘spill the beans’ on her, according to Queerty . Cruz initially fired back, calling Trump a ‘pathological liar’ and a ‘sniveling coward,’ even refusing to endorse him at the 2016 Republican National Convention. However, once Trump won the presidency, Cruz pivoted to becoming one of his most loyal supporters in Congress.
Ted Cruz said on The View that his wife Heidi laughed when Trump smeared her as ugly during the 2016 primary, and his dad laughed when Trump suggested he was involved in JFK’s assassination pic.twitter.com/cK0S8AWNMv
— Aaron Rupar (@atrupar) October 24, 2022
Cruz has defended this shift, framing it as a decision to prioritize his duties. In a 2022 appearance on The View , he said, “We went after each other, and at the end of the day, he won. And I had a decision to make…I could have decided, my feelings are hurt, I’m going to take the ball and go home and not do my job.”
“The View” co-host @ananavarro grills Sen. Ted Cruz (R-TX) for flip-flopping on his support for Donald Trump: “I frankly don’t know how you get over your wife being called ugly … Were you lying then or are you lying now?” pic.twitter.com/IhAfbLt2WD
— The Recount (@therecount) October 24, 2022
Cruz’s remarks also reignited condemnation of Scarborough and Brzezinski’s motivations for their Mar-a-Lago visit, which has alienated much of their liberal audience, according to The New Republic . After years of criticizing Trump as a threat to democracy, the Morning Joe hosts shocked viewers with their meeting with the Republican leader. Brzezinski defended the visit, claiming it was a move toward ‘doing something different.’ On air, she explained, “For those asking why we would go speak to the President-elect during such fraught times, especially between us, I guess I would ask back, ‘Why wouldn’t we?’”
Meanwhile, Scarborough asserted that the meeting was about initiating dialogue. Yet the decision has been met with skepticism, even within MSNBC, where analysts like David Jolly called it a betrayal of their values. Jolly remarked that the reaction after the election wasn’t about feeling wrong but about the frustration of knowing they were right yet on the losing side of the battle. He questioned what this meant for “a responsible media, a responsible electorate, and a responsible Democratic Party in this environment.”