Assclown Alert is a column of opinion, analysis and snark.
There are times when political leaders, no matter how combative and acerbic their personal brand, should put aside their onstage act and behave decently.
Someone calling for political opponents to be shot is one of those times.
During U.S. Sen. Ted Cruz’s speech last Thursday at the Republican midterm convention in Dallas, an audience member could be heard repeatedly shouting, “He should be shot!” as Cruz mentioned the names of high-profile Democrats — New York Mayor Zohran Mamdani, Michigan Senate candidate Abdul El-Sayed and Texas Senate candidate James Talarico.
Cruz offered no response from the stage. Published reports say it’s unclear whether he heard the shouts from the noise on the convention floor. However, his own office subsequently declined to say whether he did, and Cruz had yet to publicly denounce the remarks as of press time.
That silence sends a pitiful message — especially given its timing.
The convention took place on the first anniversary of right-wing provocateur Charlie Kirk’s assassination, and multiple speakers at the event invoked his killing while condemning political violence.
Given the country’s politically divided state — and Cruz’s oversized part in widening that rift — condemnations of political violence can’t depend on which party’s candidates appear in the crosshairs.
Republicans certainly aren’t obligated to like Mamdani, El-Sayed or Talarico. Cruz is free to attack their records, ideology and proposals as aggressively as he chooses. That’s how politics works.
But staying silent as someone calls for political opponents to be shot isn’t acceptable, even in our current state of affairs.
America has endured assassinations and attempted assassinations across its political spectrum. Leaders who warn about that danger carry a particular responsibility to reject violent rhetoric when it targets their opponents, not just their allies.
Cruz still has the option of doing the right thing — condemning the shouted words, without qualification. However, as time ticks by, it appears increasingly doubtful that this assclown will.
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