Sen. Ted Cruz (R-TX) is on a roll in his defense of the Second Amendment, first taking on actress Alyssa Milano, then turning his attention to Chicago Mayor Lori Lightfoot.
His exchange with Lightfoot came after the mayor took issue with him pointing to Chicago as an example of gun control not working.
Lightfoot argued that a majority of the illegal firearms recovered from the city come from out of state—those “dominated by coward Republicans like you who refuse to enact commonsense gun legislation.” She then called on him to “keep our name out of your mouth.”
In a series of tweets, Cruz then pointed out why her “anger is misplaced.”
1/x Mayor, your anger is misplaced. Virtually every year, Chicago has the most murders of any city in America. In 2017, the top five were: Chicago (650 murders), Baltimore (343), Philadelphia (317), New York (290), and Los Angeles (286). https://t.co/JYsaYcxgSF https://t.co/wcFc4MflzV
— Ted Cruz (@tedcruz) September 3, 2019
2/x All five of those cities have had Democratic mayors for decades and aggressive gun control policies—none seems to be working. Your explanation (“blame Indiana!”) doesn’t hold water. There are 27 states with GOP governors. Chicago is not alone in having neighboring red states.
— Ted Cruz (@tedcruz) September 3, 2019
3/x But Chicago’s murder totals are often DOUBLE the next closest city. So how do you explain the big cities in red states, without aggressive gun control laws, where murder rates are MUCH lower than Chicago?
— Ted Cruz (@tedcruz) September 3, 2019
4/x Maybe, rather than getting angry when others point out the tragically high murder rate in Chicago, you put aside the partisan talking points & the failed gun-control policies Chicago has pursued for decades. Instead, lock up the violent criminals who are committing murder...
— Ted Cruz (@tedcruz) September 3, 2019
5/x ...PREVENT felons & fugitives from illegally buying firearms, and ALLOW law-abiding citizens (who are right now obeying Chicago’s prohibition) to exercise their constitutional right to protect their own lives and their families.
— Ted Cruz (@tedcruz) September 3, 2019
He then retweeted a post by talk show host Joe Pags noting that Lightfoot has completely missed the point.
Can you imagine being this disconnected? She thinks she's making a point. She's missing it. Because law-abiding citizens of Chicago -- yup I said the city's name -- cannot get a gun, the criminals there are the only ones with them. That's the problem. @tedcruz @SenTedCruz https://t.co/kl5ODQfaIn
— Joe Pags Pagliarulo (@JoeTalkShow) September 3, 2019