From her perch as chairwoman of the Democratic National Committee (DNC), U.S. Rep. Debbie Wasserman Schultz, D-Fla., came out swinging on Tuesday at presidential hopeful U.S. Sen. Ted Cruz, R-Texas, for calling for more police patrols of Muslim neighborhoods following the terrorist attacks in Brussels.
Responding to those attacks, Cruz offered his thoughts on Tuesday morning. Islamic State (ISIS) terrorists claimed responsibility for the attacks.
“Today radical Islamic terrorists targeted the men and women of Brussels as they went to work on a spring morning,” Cruz said. “In a series of coordinated attacks they murdered and maimed dozens of innocent commuters at subway stations and travelers at the airport. For the terrorists, the identities of the victims were irrelevant. They –we—are all part of an intolerable culture that they have vowed to destroy.
“For years, the West has tried to deny this enemy exists out of a combination of political correctness and fear,” Cruz insisted. “We can no longer afford either. Our European allies are now seeing what comes of a toxic mix of migrants who have been infiltrated by terrorists and isolated, radical Muslim neighborhoods.
“We will do what we can to help them fight this scourge, and redouble our efforts to make sure it does not happen here,” Cruz added. “We need to immediately halt the flow of refugees from countries with a significant al Qaida or ISIS presence. We need to empower law enforcement to patrol and secure Muslim neighborhoods before they become radicalized.
“We need to secure the southern border to prevent terrorist infiltration,” Cruz concluded. “And we need to execute a coherent campaign to utterly destroy ISIS. The days of the United States voluntarily surrendering to the enemy to show how progressive and enlightened we are at an end. Our country is at stake.”
Wasserman Schultz quickly fired back, going after Cruz on Tuesday afternoon.
“Ted Cruz is a disgrace,” Wasserman Schultz said. “His comments today were worse than opportunistic and inappropriate politicking in the wake of the terrible tragedy in Brussels – they were a shameful display of hate that only serves to foment anger and make the world less secure. Barely before the smoke had cleared, he declared that – here in the United States – we should institute police patrols in Muslim neighborhoods. This is not leadership; it is fear-mongering for political gain. And this is the sad state of Republican leadership today, where the hateful and divisive rhetoric of the GOP’s presidential candidates seems to reach new lows each day. We need to elect a commander-in-chief with the temperament and judgment to respond wisely to the threat of terrorism and global unrest, not a demagogue who defaults to militaristic escalation and racial or religious profiling.”
At a media event in Washington, D.C. on Tuesday, Cruz insisted the West is facing a “war with radical Islamic terrorism” and said President Barack Obama was in denial about it.
“Today’s attacks in Brussels underscores that this is a war,” Cruz said. “This is not an isolated incident. This is not a lone wolf. This is a war with radical Islamic terrorism. ISIS has declared jihad on Europe and on the United States of America. They have declared their intention to murder as many innocents as possible and it is long past time that we had a president who will acknowledge this evil, will call it by its name and will utilize the full force and fury of the United States to defeat radical Islamic terrorism, to defeat ISIS. Until they are defeated these attacks will continue. Until ISIS is utterly destroyed they will continue to carry out acts of terror, continue to murder. Whether at a subway station, whether at an airport, whether at an opera house in Paris, whether at a community center in San Bernardino.
“Their target is each and every one of us,” Cruz continued. “And we need a president who sets aside political correctness in the wake of Brussels. We don’t need another lecture from President Obama on Islamophobia. We need a commander in chief who does everything necessary to defeat the enemy and we need to immediately halt the president's ill-advised plan to bring in tens of thousands of Syrian Muslim refugees.
“Our vetting programs are woefully insufficient,” Cruz added. “This administration has no means of preventing those refugees from being ISIS terrorists. ISIS has stated its intention to infiltrate those terrorists, those refugees, with terrorists coming to America to commit acts of jihad. And the time for the president's political correctness has passed. The first priority of the commander in chief should be keeping America safe.”
Cruz is chasing businessman Donald Trump in the delegate count as the Republican presidential race continues. Asked about Trump’s call to ban Muslims from other nations from entering the U.S. until security is improved, Cruz called for “serious vetting,” including screening social media posts from applicants. Cruz jabbed Trump’s recent doubts about NATO’s effectiveness though he agreed with his much of his rival’s call to suspend the visa waiver program.
Returning his fire back to the Democrats, Cruz slammed Obama and former U.S. Sec. of State Hillary Clinton, the favorite for the Democratic presidential nomination, on foreign policy. Cruz said Obama should end his trip to Cuba and focus on fighting terrorism.
“President Obama should be back in America keeping this country safe or President Obama should be planning to travel to Brussels," Cruz said. “You know in the wake of the Paris terrorist attacks, world leaders came together in solidarity with the people of Paris. And yet strikingly absent was Barack Obama. A visual manifestation of President Obama and Hillary Clinton’s retreat from the world-- abdication of leadership in the world.”
Reach Kevin Derby at kderby@sunshinestatenews.com or follow him on Twitter: @ KevinDerbySSN
