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Ted Cruz Renews Calls for McConnell to Step Down From GOP Leadership

Leah Barkoukis
Leah Barkoukis  |  February 07, 2024 7:30 AM

Sen. Ted Cruz (R-TX) renewed his calls for Mitch McConnell to step down as Senate Minority Leader over the disastrous border bill. 

Asked during a press conference on Tuesday whether it was time for the Kentucky Republican to go, Cruz, who supported a leadership challenge to McConnell in 2022, said he believes “it is.”

“I think a Republican leader should actually lead this conference and should advance the priorities of Republicans,” Cruz argued.  

He then revisited his argument for new leadership after the disappointing 2022 midterms for Republicans, when a red wave was anticipated. 

“Instead, we lost a seat in the Senate and we barely got a majority in the House," he said. "And I stood up and said, 'look, in any ordinary organization when you’re faced with failure — if you’re running a business and you lose $50 million — you don’t just say, ‘Hey everything’s great, let’s keep doing it.’ No, you sit down and say, ‘What are we doing wrong?’ And at that meeting I turned to Mitch McConnell then and I said, 'look we spent the last two years...with a handful of Republicans joining with Democrats to pass the Democrat agenda..."

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Cruz argued the border bill is “designed to lose” and claimed it’s “a plan Chuck Schumer is thrilled with.”

McConnell, when asked about Cruz’s comments, was not surprised. 

“I think we can all agree that Senator Cruz is not a fan,” he said.