Sen. Ted Cruz (R-TX) told CBS News on Sunday that he does not support a full boycott of the upcoming 2022 Winter Olympics in Beijing because it would punish U.S. athletes who have trained for years to be able to compete in the games and because the U.S. needs to “kick their commie a**es.”
“I’ve been leaning in hard saying we ought to move the Olympics out of China, that’s what we should have done,” Cruz told “Face The Nation” host Margaret Brennan. “The IOC refused to do that. I think it’s a mistake to have a full boycott of the Olympics. You know, Jimmy Carter tried that in the 1970s. All it did was punish a generation of athletes. We’ve got young men and young women, Americans, who spent their whole lives practicing for this moment. I don’t want to punish those young athletes. What we ought to do — I do agree with the notion of a so-called diplomatic boycott — which means we don’t send high ranking cabinet officials over there.”
“But I also think it’s important we do two things at the Olympics in China,” Cruz continued. “Number one, that we actually show the courage the Women’s Tennis Association is showing to call out the murder, the genocide, the torture, the lies, the complicity in COVID-19 of the Chinese communist government, to speak the truth. And then number two, I really hope our young men and women that they go over there and kick their commie a**es. We need to win in the Olympics.”
WATCH:
At the Winter Olympics in Beijing, we must:
1. Have the courage to call out the murder, the genocide, the torture, and the lies and the complicity in COVID-19 of the Chinese Communist government.
2. Kick their commie asses and win! pic.twitter.com/sfVu8CF5ki
— Ted Cruz (@tedcruz) November 21, 2021
TRANSCRIPT PROVIDED VIA CBS NEWS:
MARGARET BRENNAN: We go now to Republican Sen. Ted Cruz of Texas, who joins us from Houston. Good morning to you, Senator.
SENATOR TED CRUZ (R-TX): Good morning, Margaret. Good to be with you.
MARGARET BRENNAN: Overnight, you did see Chinese state run media release images of tennis player Peng Shuai in Beijing. It’s the first time she’s been seen in two weeks since she mysteriously disappeared after criticizing and claiming that one of the former leaders of China committed sexual assault against her. Do you have any idea what is going on here?
SEN. CRUZ: Well, we don’t know for sure, but there are reasons to be deeply, deeply skeptical. Peng Shuai was one of the best tennis players in the world. She’s the first Chinese player ever to be ranked number one in the world in doubles for women’s or men’s. And she posted on social media a serious allegation of sexual assault. Sexual assault by the former vice premier of China, by a former member of the Politburo Standing Committee. And within 30 minutes, the Chinese communist government caused that accusation of sexual assault to miraculously disappear. And since that point Peng Shuai has not been seen. Now–
MARGARET BRENNAN: –Should the U.S. be doing more?–
SEN. CRUZ: After there was criticism, after everyone noticed she disappeared, they put out, there was an email that claimed to be from her that frankly read like a bad “Saturday Night Live,” like a hostage email. And these latest images that the Chinese government is putting out, they’re trying to pretend everything is OK. But I got to say, the Women’s Tennis Association has been extraordinary standing up to China. They have been defending this athlete. They’ve been calling on China to have full and complete transparency, and the Chinese communist government is flabbergasted because they’re not used to seeing sports leagues–
MARGARET BRENNAN: –Right–
SEN. CRUZ: –or- or- or big corporate interests stand up to them. I really commend–
MARGARET BRENNAN: –Right–
SEN. CRUZ: –the Women’s Tennis Association for putting their players first.
MARGARET BRENNAN: Right. And I know you and I have talked about that in the past, when sports leagues don’t do that. But so despite concern right now that China is carrying out, actively, a genocide against Muslims in that country, it’s still set to hold the Olympics in three months. President Biden has said he’s considering a diplomatic boycott. Do you think he should go further because other 2024 presidential candidates, and I know you are considered to be likely one of them, are really kind of competing to be as hard line as they possibly can on China. Nikki Haley, Tom Cotton say this should be a full boycott. Do you support one?
SEN. CRUZ: Yeah. So, listen, I’ve been leaning in hard saying we ought to move the Olympics out of China, that’s what we should have done. The IOC refused to do that. I think it’s a mistake to have a full boycott of the Olympics. You know, Jimmy Carter tried that in the 1970s. All it did was punish a generation of athletes. We’ve got young men and young women, Americans, who spent their whole lives practicing for this moment. I don’t want to punish those young athletes. What we ought to do — I do agree with the notion of a so-called diplomatic boycott–
MARGARET BRENNAN: –You agree with President Biden?–
SEN. CRUZ: –which means we don’t send high ranking cabinet officials over there. We don’t send — we try to minimize the attention. But I also think it’s important we do two things at the Olympics in China. Number one, that we actually show the courage the Women’s Tennis Association is showing to call out the murder, the genocide, the torture, the lies, the complicity in COVID-19 of the Chinese communist government, to speak the truth. And then number two, I really hope our young men and women that they go over there and kick their commie a**es. We need to win in the Olympics.
MARGARET BRENNAN: OK. Putting that aside, there are, on a practical level, corporations who spend a ton of money on sponsorships around the Olympics: Coca-Cola, Google, Procter and Gamble. They’re all Olympic sponsors. Should they still go ahead with those activities?
SEN. CRUZ: Look, I think it makes sense for corporations to cut off their ads. I’d love to see corporations show a tiny bit of courage. You know, when China engages in horrific slave labor, companies like Nike turn a blind eye. When you look at the NBA, I’m a die-hard hoops fan, the NBA’s reaction to China’s terrible. Terrible. They’re terrified of upsetting the Chinese communist dictators. They value the money so much that in fact, you know, you and I both remember when Daryl Morey, who was the general manager of the Rockets, sent one little innocuous tweet about Hong Kong and the NBA bent over backwards groveling to the Chinese communists. I was in Hong Kong at the time. In fact, you and I did a show at that time.
MARGARET BRENNAN: Yes.
SEN. CRUZ: –I dressed in all black in solidarity with the Hong Kong protesters.
MARGARET BRENNAN: Right.
SEN. CRUZ: –I understand why the NBA did it. They’re looking at hundreds of millions of dollars, if not billions of dollars. I understand why Nike does it. But you know, what is really impressive about the Women’s Tennis Association is they’ve said they will cancel their matches in China. They will give up tens of millions or hundreds of millions of dollars if Peng Shuai is not released, if there isn’t transparency. That’s the kind of courage we need other players to have.