Texas Republican Senator Ted Cruz has a history of calling out sports leagues for anti-American behavior. Here are some of his greatest jabs.
In July of 2020, Cruz got into a brawl with Dallas Mavericks owner Mark Cuban over players kneeling during the national anthem.
A Dallas talk radio host tweeted that he was excited for the Mavericks to get back on the court, but wouldn’t continue watching if any of the players took a knee. Cuban sent back a dismissive “Bye,” then added, “The National Anthem Police in this country are out of control.”
Cruz jumped into the conversation with an irritated tweet. “[The] NBA is telling everyone who stands for the flag, who honors our cops and our veterans, to “piss off”? In Texas, no less?”
With no response from Cuban, Cruz prodded further: “Let’s try simpler. Mark, tough guy, can you say “Free Hong Kong?” Can your players put that on their jerseys?” He questioned. “Can you condemn the CCP’s concentration camps w/ 1 million Uyghurs? Can you say ANYTHING other than “Chairman Mao is beautiful & wise”?”
In April of 2021, Cruz took aim at LA Lakers star LeBron James calling for violence against a police officer on social media.
When a Columbus police officer shot and killed a sixteen-year-old girl with a knife in her hand, the LA Lakers star tweeted a since deleted photo of the officer with the caption “YOU’RE NEXT” alongside an hourglass emoji and the hashtag #ACCOUNTABILITY.”
Cruz took aim at the NBA legend during an appearance on Fox News.
“The left consistently goes after, attacks and demonizes police officers … often before the facts are known, often before there is any evidence of what happened, but their immediate reaction, whenever there is an incident, is that police officers is in the wrong,” Cruz remarked. “And in this instance, ‘you’re next’ could certainly be interpreted by some, even, as a call for violence. I think it was a grossly irresponsible message for LeBron James to send out.”
He pointed out that James neglected to mention the body camera footage that showed the victim attack another woman with a knife.
“By any measure, it was a volatile situation. The woman who was killed was wielding a knife, was violent, appeared to be threatening the [lives] of others,” he continued. “It may well be, on an investigation, that this police officer saved the life of a potential victim of a knife attack and we shouldn’t jump to conclusions.”
In June of 2021, Cruz panned NCAA President Mark Emmert for politicizing transgender athletes’ participation in college athletic competitions.
“I am concerned about just how political the NCAA has gotten on the question of transgender athletes,” he said during a Commerce Committee hearing.
“Now, it used to not be controversial to observe that there are biological differences between boys and girls, and when it comes to athletics, there are — can be significant physical advantages for those who are born biologically male in terms of strength and size,” he continued.
“And that’s why we have girls’ sports and boy’s sports and men’s sports and women’s sports in organized athletics. And the science continues to demonstrate that indeed,” Cruz followed up.
compete against individuals who were born biologically male?” He asked. “Is that fair to the girls and to the women who had been competing in the sports?”
In December of 2021, the NFL announced a new initiative to grow the league internationally by creating 18 franchises in eight countries. In a map that designating the Los Angeles Rams to China, the NFL included the independent nation of Taiwan in their border.
“The NFL, which is chasing dollars from the Chinese Communist Party, shows Taiwan as part of China,” tweeted Sen. Ted Cruz. “Disgraceful cowardice.”