Throughout the week, Republican Senator Ted Cruz has seemed quite eager to help President Donald Trump in his attempts to subvert democracy and overturn the election results.
During an interview with Fox News host Sean Hannity on Monday, Cruz said he would present oral arguments in a filing from Pennslyvania Republicans that sought to rescind President-Elect Joe Biden’s victory in the state, should the Supreme Court agree to hear the case.
“When you look at a country where 39% of Americans right now believe this last election was rigged, that’s a real problem for confidence in the integrity of our electoral system,” Cruz said. “So, I’m hopeful the Supreme Court will step forward to its responsibility and resolve this case and resolve other cases as needed.”
In that instance, the Court did not: the case was denied with a one-sentence order left unsigned by the justices. But a second attempt to bring an election-related suit in front of the Supreme Court has generated a wave of coverage over the last few days, and Cruz again has apparently offered to argue its validity in front of the justices.
Should that happen, however, Jimmy Kimmel isn’t sure Cruz is the person for the job. “I don’t think even Tom Cruise could win this case,” Kimmel joked on Thursday’s episode of Jimmy Kimmel Live. “This case is a last-ditch, embarrassing, and genuinely despicable attempt to make an end-run on democracy.”
But rather than focus on the dubious and concerted efforts from the Republican party to ignore the will of the people, Kimmel made Cruz’s relationship with Trump the focal point of his rant—specifically the way Cruz spoke about Trump in the past.
“I’m going to tell you what I really think of Donald Trump,” Cruz said in 2016. “This man is a pathological liar. He doesn’t know the difference between truth and lies. He lies practically every word that comes out of his mouth.”
“I’m being told that was before his spine removal surgery,” Kimmel joked after playing the clip. “That was 2016. That was when Trump was dishonest. Now Donald Trump is honest.”
He added, “For as much money as he takes from the NRA, you’d think Ted Cruz would have some idea of how to stick to his guns.”
Trump’s history with Cruz is well-documented. During the Republican primary in 2016, Trump amplified a disparaging comment about Heidi Cruz, the senator’s wife. Trump also frequently called Cruz a liar (“Lyin’ Ted” was his nickname for the senator) and even falsely claimed Cruz “stole” the Iowa caucus and engaged in “fraud” he didn’t specify or deign to prove.
But that hasn’t stopped Cruz from fully participating in Trump’s attacks on democracy since the election.
“A lot of people are wondering why Ted Cruz would even do this,” Kimmel said. “I have a theory: I think Ted Cruz is gonna go to the Supreme Court and pull a full Nicole Kidman in The Undoing on him.”