Apparently Senator Ted Cruz (R-TX) has watched the classic film “The Hunt for Red October,” in which the Soviet submarine V. K. Konovalov launches a torpedo at the defecting Red October submarine but the torpedo ultimately winds up destroying the V. K. Konovalov itself.
On Tuesday, seizing upon a story in the Los Angeles Times that slammed the Trump administration for relaxing gas mileage and emissions requirements for auto manufacturers, former President Barack Obama took a shot at President Trump and his administration as Obama targeted the youth vote for 2020.
But he didn’t reckon with Cruz (R-TX) who took Obama’s words and deftly turned them into an attack on former Vice President Joe Biden and Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi.
Obama tweeted: “We’ve seen all too terribly the consequences of those who denied warnings of a pandemic. We can’t afford any more consequences of climate denial. All of us, especially young people, have to demand better of our government at every level and vote this fall.”
We've seen all too terribly the consequences of those who denied warnings of a pandemic. We can't afford any more consequences of climate denial. All of us, especially young people, have to demand better of our government at every level and vote this fall. https://t.co/K8Ucu7iVDK
— Barack Obama (@BarackObama) March 31, 2020
Cruz turned the missile headed for Trump and the GOP and reversed its path so it wound up targeting Biden and Pelosi, tweeting: “Bold: Obama calls for the overwhelming electoral defeat of Joe Biden & Nancy Pelosi, after they opposed & demagogued Trump’s China travel ban, which helped slow the coronavirus pandemic.”
Bold: Obama calls for the overwhelming electoral defeat of Joe Biden & Nancy Pelosi, after they opposed & demagogued Trump’s China travel ban, which helped slow the coronavirus pandemic. https://t.co/DaRygnaMQb
— Ted Cruz (@tedcruz) March 31, 2020
In January, President Trump reacted swiftly to the WHO’s announcement that human transmission of COVID-19 was possible, issuing his travel ban on people coming from China the very next day. He was attacked for his alleged xenophobia by various quarters, including Biden, who attacked Trump at a campaign rally, saying, ““In moments like this, this is where the credibility of a president is most needed, as he explains what we should and should not do. This is no time for Donald Trump’s record of hysteria and xenophobia, hysterical xenophobia, to uh, and fear mongering.”
In mid-March, Biden ripped President Trump on Twitter for Trump’s actions in banning travel to the United States and Trump’s actions building a wall on the southern border, tweeting, “A wall will not stop the coronavirus. Banning all travel from Europe — or any other part of the world — will not stop it. This disease could impact every nation and any person on the planet – and we need a plan to combat it.”
A wall will not stop the coronavirus.
Banning all travel from Europe — or any other part of the world — will not stop it.
This disease could impact every nation and any person on the planet — and we need a plan to combat it.
— Joe Biden (@JoeBiden) March 13, 2020
Also in mid-March, House Minority Whip Steve Scalise pointed out that the No Ban Act that Pelosi supported would have made it more difficult for President Trump to issue his China travel ban in January, as The Hill reported. He stated, “I know there is one piece of legislation that’s scheduled for the floor this week that I would urge Speaker Pelosi to pull back on, and that is the No Ban Act. You saw at the very beginning of this, President Trump was able to take quick action when so many cases were coming out of China, and we still don’t know enough about the genesis of this disease in China and how it may have started there.” He continued:
Unfortunately, they didn’t share enough information with us as quickly, where we could have done more things earlier. But at the same time, the president was able to take quick action to limit the number of people coming in from China that had exposure to coronavirus, but the No Ban Act would make it more difficult for the president to keep Americans safe by addressing needs as we see other countries like Iran — you’re seeing a large, potential large outbreak in Iran — Iran is one of those countries that we currently have a travel ban on because they don’t allow us to properly vet that terrorists aren’t coming into our country.