Lawrence O’Donnell Roasts Ted Cruz for Still Clapping After Trump Leaves Meeting: ‘Did He Think Donald Trump Could See Through the Door?!’
MSNBC’s Lawrence O’Donnell brutally mocked Sen. Ted Cruz (R-TX) on Thursday night, hours after the lawmaker and other Republicans met with former Donald Trump on Capitol Hill.
It was Trump’s first trip to Congress since leaving office on the heels of the Jan. 6 Capitol riot, for which many Republicans blamed Trump, only to come crawling back when they realized he would maintain his grip on the base.
O’Donnell gave the abridged history of Trump and Cruz, beginning with the 2016 Republican presidential campaign.
“Donald Trump attacked Senator Cruz’s father, lied about Senator Cruz’s father being involved in the assassination of President Kennedy,” the host said. “Donald Trump attacked Senator Cruz’s wife, Heidi. Donald Trump ridiculed the way she looks. And here is what the outraged candidate for president, Senator Cruz said about that then.”
“Donald, you’re a sniveling coward and leave Heidi the hell alone,” Cruz said in 2016, when he also called Trump’s JFK theory, “nuts.”
O’Donnell noted that at the time, it was unclear whether Trump would endorse Cruz.
“But Senator Cruz looked into his heart and found, nothing,” he said. “Nothing that would prevent him from endorsing the presidential candidate who attacked and lied about his father and attacked and lied about his wife. And there was Senator Cruz today in that lineup of utterly egoless Republican men craving their moment with Donald Trump, craving a possible handshake, or a possible pat on the back, or a wink or smile, a glance, anything from Donald Trump.”
The host teed up a clip of Trump’s meeting with senators, including Cruz, stating, “Watch now Senator Cruz crave that moment.
In the snippet, Trump shakes hands with several senators and exits the room. As the door slowly closes behind him, the senators still clap. Cruz is one of the last lawmakers to stop clapping.
“He kept clapping after Donald Trump left the room, after the door was closed,” O’Donnell reacted. “Did he think Donald Trump could see through the door?!”
