Ted Cruz is actually still insisting security at the Capitol is just 'political theater'

Texas Sen. Ted Cruz (R) claimed that security measures at the U.S. Capitol were nothing more than “political theater” in a speech at the Conservative Political Action Conference on Friday — one day after the acting Capitol Police chief testified before Congress that there is an active threat to “blow up” the building.

“The U.S. Capitol has giant fences with razor wires and 5,000 National Guard standing out front because the Democrats are convinced that political theater helps them,” Cruz told attendees.

“Let us be clear, this is not security at this point,” he added, “this is about political theater.”

Cruz accused Democrats of turning the Capitol “into a military outpost in Baghdad” following the Jan. 6 insurrection, which left five dead, so that the “compliant media” would echo the claim that “deplorable” Trump supporters “are dangerous.”

However, the day before Cruz’s speech, Acting U.S. Capitol Police Chief Yogananda Pittman testified before a House subcommittee about ongoing threats that necessitate the ongoing security presence.

“We know that members of the militia groups that were present on Jan. 6 have stated their desires that they want to blow up the Capitol and kill as many members as possible with a direct nexus to the State of the Union,” she told the panel.

President Joe Biden has not yet scheduled a date for his first address to a joint session of Congress.

Five people were killed at the Capitol on Jan. 6 when pro-Trump rioters stormed the building in a failed attempt to overturn the 2020 election. Cruz came under fire in the immediate aftermath of the attack for his role in objecting to the certification the election results, and his decision to push the same lies that spurred on the attack in the first place.

The Justice Department has continued to make arrests stemming from the Capitol riots in recent weeks, while the FBI has asked for the public’s help in the ongoing investigations.

Like Cruz, many Republicans in Congress have attacked the Capitol security measures and derided House Speaker Nancy Pelosi for putting them in place, minimizing the threat the violent attackers posed to members of Congress, then-Vice President Mike Pence, whom they threatened to execute, and the rest of the country.

Published with permission of The American Independent Foundation.