LYIN’ TED: Fact Checking Yet Another Cruz Interview

AUSTIN, Texas – Here he goes again. In Tyler, Ted Cruz spent 20 minutes attacking ABC 7’s anchor and lying about a host of topics – from the border, to tax cuts for the rich, to January 6th, to this year’s Senate race.

Count the lies:

[The bipartisan border bill Cruz voted against] “was a partisan bill that Chuck Schumer was responsible for.”

FALSE: The bipartisan legislation to secure the border Cruz voted against earlier this year was negotiated by conservative Republican Sen. James Lankford of Oklahoma and endorsed by the Border Patrol Union, whose president said people like Cruz opposed it “for political purposes.”

On January 6th: “There was a handful of people who engaged in acts of violence.”

FALSE: Over 450 January 6th rioters have been charged with resisting or assaulting police officers, and over 120 have been charged with using a deadly weapon to injure an officer. 140 police officers were assaulted on January 6th, and 5 officers died because of the events of that day.

[On whether expanding the 2017 GOP tax law would increase the deficit] “It won’t, and it didn’t.”

FALSE: The nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office has found that extending the 2017 tax law for the next 10 years would add $4.6 trillion to the deficit.

“[Allred] doesn’t do press conferences, it’s been I think 62 days since he’s done a press conference.”

FALSE: Allred has held more than 50 open-press events and media availabilities in the months of July and August alone, including press conferences.

ABC 7 Tyler: “Do you not trust the Congressional Budget Office?” Cruz: “No. They’re always wrong.”

FALSE: Cruz regularly uses their analysis.

ABC 7 Tyler: “I’ll ask you again, what would you say to voters who have lost trust in you after that day [Jan. 6]?” Cruz: “I would say they work for the media.”

FALSE: Recent polling shows Colin Allred within the margin of error. That’s a lot of Texas voters who work for the media.

“I’ve also authored and passed 100 different pieces of legislation into law – bipartisan, major legislation… Colin Allred has passed into law? The answer’s 3.”

FALSE: According to Congress.gov, Allred has sponsored or cosponsored 48 bills that have become law during his six years in Congress, which does not include language or amendments Allred secured in legislation that became law. In double that time in office, Cruz has sponsored or cosponsored 61 bills that have become law.

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