Footage from 2020 has resurfaced on social media, showing a heated exchange between Sen. Ted Cruz (R-TX) and Sen. Mazie Hirono (D-HI). During the congressional meeting, Cruz condemned Black Lives Matter for its stated organizational objectives, which seem to contradict the traditional values that America was founded on.
Cruz specifically called out goals BLM had listed on its website that include discriminating against White-owned businesses and subverting the nuclear family that has served as the basis for Western society. The Texas senator said, “Now what else does BLM, the organization, support on its website, it is called for a quote, boycott of white capitalism.
He continued calling out the values that Black Lives Matter had espoused. “In 2017 they called on people not to spend any money with white corporations. And not only that, the BLM website says that one of their objective is dismantling the, quote, patriarchal practices and disrupting the Western-prescribed nuclear family. That’s what they say their objectives are,” he said.
At the time, Corporate American was pouring money into the racial activist organization following the death of George Floyd, which sparked racial tension across the nation. Cruz suggested that it was problematic that so many companies were providing substantial resources to an organization with such misaligned values, which could have disastrous effects on society.
“The reason that matters is right now corporate America is desperate to demonstrate their virtue, as we see great racial dissension, so black lives matter. BLM, the group raises money on Act Blue, the fundraising mechanism for virtually every elected Democrat in Congress,” he continued. “This is dangerous, and it’s worth understanding that when corporate America floods millions of dollars into explicitly Marxist terrorist organizations that glorify cop killers, that glorify violence, that the violence and terrorism that flows from that should not be surprising.”
Cruz concluded his monologue, highlighting the consequences of the incessant calls to “defund” and “abolish” American law enforcement. According to the senator, scaling back police resources would lead to more deaths in the black community. “But the organization that has seized that name is very different, and if they succeeded with their stated number one objective of defunding and abolishing every police department. Many, many more black lives would would be lost because more African Americans would be murdered without the police officers that bravely risked their lives to defend those communities,” he said.
Sen. Hirono responded to Cruz, maintaining that she has continually called to denounce all forms of extremism. “Sometimes I don’t think you listen. So how many times have I had to say that we all should be denouncing violent extremists of every stripe,” she said. However, Hirono refused to outright denounce ANTIFA upon Cruz’s request. Watch the Cruz and Hirono below:
"*" indicates required fields
The Hawaii Democrat further insinuated that many of the actions that conservatives have criticized are protected under the First Amendment. Before she abruptly got up and left the chamber, Hirono stated again that violent extremism should be condemned, but refused to outright condemn any specific left-wing organizations which have been accused of such behavior.
“So all I can say is, look, we should all join hands and denouncing and whatever words you want to use about violent extremism of all stripes, and I think we can all agree on that. So to constantly accuse Democrats of not caring about that is really I can only say that you aren’t listening. So I hope this is the end of this hearing, Mr Chairman, and that we don’t have to listen to any more of your rhetorical speeches. Thank you very much. I’m leaving,” she concluded.