Dear Editor,

Is it now becoming quite obvious that the junior U.S. senator from Texas, Ravael Edward “Ted” Cruz, is working diligently to assume the demagogic leadership role of former President Donald J. Trump in the Republican Party, as much like the former president, Sen. Cruz appears to have placed his personal political ambitions paramount over the Republican Party, his family, as well as the people of our great country.

Sen. Cruz, who assumed his current position on Jan. 3, 2013, has a very impressive academic background, having earned his undergraduate degree, cum laude, from Princeton University in Public Policy, followed by his cum laude graduation from the Harvard School of Law.

The senator was born in Calgary, Canada, to an immigrant father, who had fled his native Cuba in order to escape governmental suppression, and a mother, who was a U.S. citizen, which qualified the younger Cruz for U.S. citizenship, which was an issue during the 2016 presidential primaries.

Cruz, who began his senatorial career as an outspoken member of “The Tea Party” faction of the Republican Party, and played a significant role in efforts that led to a U.S. government shutdown, which was designed in an attempt to defund the Affordable Care Act in 2013.

Also, it had been reported by “The New York Times” that Sen. Cruz had taken out $1 million in low-interest loans from Goldman Sachs, where “coincidentally” his wife just happened to be working at the time, and failed to report the aforementioned transactions to the Federal Elections Commission, as required by law, in January 2016.

During the 2016 Presidential campaign, then-candidate Trump repeatedly referred to Cruz as “Lying Ted,” made disparaging, and very inappropriate, comments about Cruz’s wife, and stated, incredibly, that somehow Cruz’s father was involved in the assassination of President John F. Kennedy.

And although Trump never retracted the aforementioned epitaphs, Cruz seemingly placing politics over family, following the election became a very strong advocate for and supporter of, President Trump.

Also, during the 2016 presidential campaign, Republican stalwart Sen. Lindsey Graham stated that:

“If you killed Ted Cruz on the floor of the Senate and the trial was in the Senate, nobody would convict him (the assassin).”

This from a political cohort!

Sen. Cruz has also been an outspoken advocate of the Trump mantra that the recent presidential election was “rigged” against him with absolutely no such supportive evidence whatsoever, and strongly encouraged those in their efforts to mount an insurrection on Jan. 6, 2021, at the U.S. Capitol Building.

Also, in February 2021 Cruz unconscionably took his family on vacation to Cancun, Mexico, while 4.3 million of his fellow Texans were without power and drinking water due to a historic winter storm, which was a clear dereliction of duty in his position as a U.S. senator.

Sen. Cruz, at one time, had the potential to be an individual capable of having a very positive impact on our country, and, unfortunately, has placed his personal political ambitions as his top priority.

Disappointing, disturbing, but sadly, not atypical of our national political leaders.

Richard Hord

Martins Ferry