Politics

Ted Cruz: Beto Has ‘Crashed And Burned’ Since Midterms

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Texas Sen. Ted Cruz said his former 2018 Senate race opponent, Beto O’Rourke, has “crashed and burned” and “been in free fall” since the media is no longer infatuated with him.

Commenting on Saturday’s edition of “Firing Line with Margaret Hoover,” Cruz told the PBS host that the media, which once served as O’Rourke’s “base” during the 2018 midterms, has now “turned on him” in favor of other Democratic candidates.

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“What happened to Beto O’Rourke?” Hoover asked.

“He — he has crashed and burned,” Cruz responded. “You know, part of it is his base was the media.”

When Hoover came back with the fact that O’Rourke got “48 percent of the vote” in the Texas Senate race, Cruz used that fact to press his point.

“When he was running against me, the media were enamored with him,” he said. “They were like groupies at a Beatles concert. There was, every week, a different fluffy profile, the obligatory adjective that every …”

“So, has the media fallen out of love with him?” asked the PBS host. (RELATED: Beto O’Rourke Says America Was ‘Founded On White Supremacy’)

“Yes, that’s exactly what’s happened,” said the Texas senator. “The obligatory adjective they used for him was ‘Kennedyesque.’ The instant he was no longer running against me, when he was running against Kamala Harris and Bernie and Elizabeth Warren, the media turned like that, and suddenly — and I got to admit, he’s been in free fall, he hasn’t known what to do when the media turned on him.”

Since a strong showing against Cruz in Texas, O’Rourke has struggled to gain traction in a crowded Democratic presidential field, polling in the low single digits nationally and even 0% in the latest New Hampshire poll.