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Ted Cruz Slams CNN's Chris Cuomo for Falsely Claiming He's 'Afraid' to Appear on CNN

Senator Ted Cruz
Senator Ted Cruz / Getty Images
February 16, 2018

Republican Sen. Ted Cruz (Texas) admonished CNN's Chris Cuomo on Twitter after the anchor accused him of being afraid to appear on CNN in the wake of the Parkland, Fla. school shooting.

The controversy arose when Cuomo on Thursday ripped Gov. Rick Scott (R., Fla.), Sen. Marco Rubio (R., Fla.), and Cruz on his CNN morning show, "New Day." Cuomo accused the three Republicans of being "afraid" to appear on CNN in the wake of the shooting, alleging they were "unwilling" to answer questions about gun violence. Cuomo also intimated that all three elected officials chose to appear on Fox News' "Fox & Friends" because it provided them with a friendlier format.

"They're all on Fox, the mothership, because they don't want to be asked about this. What are they afraid of?" Cuomo asked. "Tell me."

Later that same day, Cuomo tweeted a story by The Hill reporting his claims about Scott, Rubio, and Cruz, while also taking a not so subtle shot at the senator from Texas. Cuomo tweeted that Cruz failed to offer any real solutions in the wake of the shooting and only "thinks gun control ... is not the answer." Cuomo challenged Cruz to work with his colleagues in Congress to "find an answer."

On Friday, Cruz responded to Cuomo's allegations by announcing that on Thursday he had conducted a 15-minute interview with CNN. Cruz said the interview included a discussion of legislation he previously introduced with Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Chuck Grassley (R., Iowa) to provide $300 million for school safety, gun-crime prosecutions, and mental health. The bill failed to make it through the Senate after Democrats used their filibuster power to kill it.

Cruz even shared a photo from the interview, which has yet to air on CNN.