Sen. Ted Cruz took Chicago’s mayor back to school on the issue of gun control after she blasted him and “coward Republicans” she blamed for decades of violence and crime.
The Texas Republican told Chicago Mayor Lori Lightfoot that her “anger is misplaced” in a string of tweets on Tuesday, responding to her attack on his criticism of the Democrat-run city as an example of why “disarming law-abiding citizens isn’t the answer.”
The war of words began when Cruz tweeted that “gun control doesn’t work” and used Chicago to make his point, following a report that over two dozen people had been shot in the kick off to the Labor Day weekend.
Gun control doesn’t work. Look at Chicago. Disarming law-abiding citizens isn’t the answer. Stopping violent criminals—prosecuting & getting them off the street—BEFORE they commit more violent crimes is the most effective way to reduce murder rates. Let’s protect our citizens. https://t.co/znHO31gDH2
— Ted Cruz (@tedcruz) September 2, 2019
“Stopping violent criminals—prosecuting & getting them off the street—BEFORE they commit more violent crimes is the most effective way to reduce murder rates,” Cruz tweeted Monday. “Let’s protect our citizens.”
Lightfoot fired back, complete with visual aide, asserting that “60 percent of illegal firearms recovered in Chicago come from outside IL—mostly from states dominated by coward Republicans like you who refuse to enact commonsense gun legislation.”
60% of illegal firearms recovered in Chicago come from outside IL—mostly from states dominated by coward Republicans like you who refuse to enact commonsense gun legislation. Keep our name out of your mouth. https://t.co/yVM4JHL3xy pic.twitter.com/pr613A3dpf
— Lori Lightfoot (@LightfootForChi) September 3, 2019
“Keep our name out of your mouth,” the newly elected mayor told Cruz.
When @tedcruz and the @gop dismiss common sense gun policies, they disrespect victims and their families, who deserve to live without pain and fear.
— Lori Lightfoot (@LightfootForChi) September 3, 2019
The Texas senator, fresh from accepting actress Alyssa Milano’s challenge to meet up and discuss gun control and the Second Amendment, took Lightfoot on journey through facts and figures.
1/x Mayor, your anger is misplaced. Virtually every year, Chicago has the most murders of any city in America. In 2017, the top five were: Chicago (650 murders), Baltimore (343), Philadelphia (317), New York (290), and Los Angeles (286). https://t.co/JYsaYcxgSF https://t.co/wcFc4MflzV
— Ted Cruz (@tedcruz) September 3, 2019
Linking to a 2018 USA Today article listing the top U.S. cities for homicides and that decades of Democratic rule and “aggressive gun control policies” have done little to alleviate the numbers.
“Your explanation (“blame Indiana!”) doesn’t hold water,” Cruz tweeted.
2/x All five of those cities have had Democratic mayors for decades and aggressive gun control policies—none seems to be working. Your explanation (“blame Indiana!”) doesn’t hold water. There are 27 states with GOP governors. Chicago is not alone in having neighboring red states.
— Ted Cruz (@tedcruz) September 3, 2019
3/x But Chicago’s murder totals are often DOUBLE the next closest city. So how do you explain the big cities in red states, without aggressive gun control laws, where murder rates are MUCH lower than Chicago?
— Ted Cruz (@tedcruz) September 3, 2019
The GOP lawmaker suggested Lightfoot “put aside the partisan talking points” and have a serious look at the effect of decades of “failed gun-control policies.”
4/x Maybe, rather than getting angry when others point out the tragically high murder rate in Chicago, you put aside the partisan talking points & the failed gun-control policies Chicago has pursued for decades. Instead, lock up the violent criminals who are committing murder…
— Ted Cruz (@tedcruz) September 3, 2019
5/x …PREVENT felons & fugitives from illegally buying firearms, and ALLOW law-abiding citizens (who are right now obeying Chicago’s prohibition) to exercise their constitutional right to protect their own lives and their families.
— Ted Cruz (@tedcruz) September 3, 2019
To drive home his point, Cruz retweeted a post by talk show host Joe “Pags” Pagliarulo who accused the Democrat of being “disconnected.”
Lightfoot came back swinging, accusing Cruz of trying to score a political point while offending people in his home state of Texas where some of the recent mass shootings have taken place.
(Video: ABC News)
The Democrat mayor also responded directly to Cruz on Twitter, telling him to “do your job.”
1)@tedcruz, if you really care about Chicagoans, Texans and everyone facing gun violence, take action. Tell @senatemajldr it’s time for
✔️Universal background checks
✔️An assault weapons ban
Those reforms will save lives. Do your job. https://t.co/eRjynl7dJN— Lori Lightfoot (@LightfootForChi) September 4, 2019
Lightfoot’s grandstanding included an invitation to the senator to “come to Chicago.”
2)If you want to come to Chicago and learn about the root causes of gun violence, I’ll be glad to show you around & we can have that convo. But enough with this dishonest use of our city as a cheap symbol to cover for the @gop’s unwillingness to protect their constituents.
— Lori Lightfoot (@LightfootForChi) September 4, 2019
So far, Cruz had the last word in the Twitter battle as he responded Wednesday morning.
Mayor, the most significant “root cause” is that criminals have all the guns. One place to start is not releasing back to the public, but rather locking up violent, repeat offenders before they murder again: https://t.co/U2Hyn0CSiH https://t.co/v7PLn0ICnc
— Ted Cruz (@tedcruz) September 4, 2019
Cruz made his point to the mayor by linking to a story on a six-time convicted felon who was told by a Cook County judge that he didn’t need to worry about paying the reduced bail set at $100,000 for multiple gun charges. The judge then set him free on electronic monitoring.
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Originally from New York, Powers graduated from New York University and eventually made her way to sunny South Florida where she has been writing for the BizPacReview team since 2015.
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