At a Sen. Ted Cruz (R-TX) event in Amarillo this week, he was visited by a protester who is supporting his opponent, Beto O'Rourke. The protester didn't like what Cruz had to say about gun control, so he made a scene. A Cruz supporter spoke up and shouted at him to "come and take it!" As in, come and take their guns. The O'Rourke protester offered a surprisingly honest response.
Beto O’Rourke protester yelling in town hall on gun control.
— Emily Miller (@EmilyMiller) August 29, 2018
Texan man- “Come and take it!”
Beto guy, “We will!”
Then @tedcruz said, That exchange right there is what this whole campaign is about!
Crowd explodes. #2A pic.twitter.com/2LZW7ot992
"You want an exchange on the entire election on the 2nd Amendment?" Cruz asked.
"Come and take it," a Texas man in the audience yelled, to which the O'Rourke supporter screamed, "Oh we will!"
That, Cruz said, is why he is running to defend his Senate seat. The exchange he had just witnessed at his Amarillo event can sum up the entire election, he explained. Cruz said the protester is a perfect representation of his opponent's Second Amendment stance. O'Rourke, Cruz explained, has tweeted how proud he is to have an 'F' rating from the NRA. Cruz retweeted him, making sure Texans know that the Democrat is "a big Government, gun grabbing liberal."
So, he asked his constituents, "Is Texas going to stand up and defend itself?" That question got a standing ovation.
You can watch a clear video of the exchange here.
Cruz has often chided Democrats for pouncing on tragedies for political gain.
“The reaction of Democrats to any tragedy is to try to politicize it,” Cruz said after the tragedy at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in February. "So they immediately start calling that we’ve got to take away the Second Amendment rights of law-abiding citizens. That’s not the right answer.”