Facts on the Ground

Sen. Ted Cruz (R-TX) was brutally mocked by political analysts and observers after he made an inadvertent admission during an interview on Fox News.

Cruz joined Fox News host Sean Hannity for an interview on Monday, where the two discussed the potential impact of the upcoming midterm elections. Cruz pointed out that Democrats like Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-NY) want to pass policies that could stifle entrepreneurial growth in America. However, Cruz may have told too much of the truth in making that point, according to some analysts.

"By the way, AOC also said it is impossible for someone to earn a billion dollars," Cruz said. "Which, look, I recognize for her, given she was a bartender, that is probably true. No disrespect to bartenders. Bartenders are an honorable profession. But she went from that to being a government employee and a parasite sucking on the taxpayer."

Some political analysts and observers called out Cruz for the notable phrase he included in his answer.

"Ted Cruz just called himself a parasite sucking on the taxpayer," Hemant Mehta, a former "Jeopardy!" champion, posted on X.

"Love him calling himself a parasite," comedian Sam Weber posted on X.

"Ted Cruz seems to have forgotten what he is, and what he was," John F. Clark, professor emeritus of media studies at the University of Kentucky, posted on X. "He’s never done anything but go to school, do some lawyering, and then go to work for the government. We need more bartenders and fewer lawyers in Congress."

A controversial Democratic candidate in Texas has proclaimed she would use Immigration and Customs Enforcement centers for a new purpose — to round up "American Zionists."

According to the San Antonio Current, Maureen Galindo, a sex therapist running for Texas' newly-redrawn 35th Congressional District consisting of eastern San Antonio and the exurbs around it, posted to Instagram that she will "turn Karnes ICE Detention Center into a prison for American Zionists and former ICE officers for human trafficking." She added that "it will also be a castration processing center for pedophiles, which will probably be most of the Zionists.”

In her Instagram post, which spanned several pages and ranted against "billionaire Zionists that control San Antonio," she also accused her Democratic primary opponent, Bexar County Sheriff's Deputy Johnny Garcia, of "want[ing] Mexicans and Jews in warehouses." She has previously claimed, with no evidence, that Garcia is part of a human trafficking operation on behalf of Zionists.

Galindo has repeatedly faced accusations of being antisemitic, which she denies, claiming that she supports "the Indigenous Jews (The Semites) of the Middle East" over "the Fake Jews" committing genocide against them.

All of this comes as mainstream Democratic figures in Texas and around the country line up behind Garcia's candidacy.

It also comes as a mysterious PAC with ties to the GOP has worked behind the scenes to boost Galindo to voters in the 35th District, which has been made significantly more Republican-leaning as a result of Texas lawmakers' MAGA-ordered mid-decade redistricting.