Ted Cruz calls out GOP Rep. Andy Ogles’ ‘idiotic’ anti-gay statement
Ted Cruz (left) called out Andy Ogles (Getty Images)
In a new case of ‘the worst person you know makes a great point’, Texas senator Ted Cruz has shown support for gay people while criticising controversial comments made by another Republican politician.
Tennessee representative Andy Ogles received backlash this week when he shared his thoughts about the gay community in a now-deleted social media post.
“Homosexuality has no place in America,” he wrote on X at the beginning of Pride Month. “Happy Nuclear Family Month.”
Cruz was among a number of Republican politicians that disputed the bold claim.
‘For all of recorded history, homosexuals have been part of humanity’
Speaking to TMZ on 2 June, he said of the post: “I think for all of recorded history, homosexuals have been part of humanity. I’ve got to say that I’m quite libertarian by nature. I think the behaviour of consenting adults is their business.”
Cruz has historically strongly opposed equal marriage. In 2022, he discussed 2015 the Obergefell v Hodges ruling that legalized same-sex marriage in the US on his YouTube channel.
“I think that decision was clearly wrong when it was decided,” he said at the time. “It was the court overreaching.”
George Santos, the disgraced gay former New York representative, also criticised Ogles’ post.
“As much as I support the Nuclear family and how fundamental it is for life, I never thought I’d hear a person I consider a friend say there is no place for me in this country simply because of who I chose to love,” he wrote in a reply to the post.
‘Homosexuality exists. In America’
“I never once pushed my lifestyle onto anyone and have always voted and advocated for conservative principles. But I have the same civil rights as anyone else in this country and I am saddened by this insane comment.”
Likewise, Mike Lawler quoted Ogles’ post to share his two cents. “Homosexuality exists. In America,” he said. The GOP representative for New York is currently running for reelection in a swing district in the state.
“In fact Andy, you have family, friends, neighbors, colleagues and constituents who are gay and lesbian,” he continued. “It doesn’t make them less than or somehow unworthy of being an American. What an absolutely idiotic statement to make.”
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