October 24, 2018

Ted Cruz, Who Joked Yesterday About Locking Up His Opponent, Renews Call for Civility in Politics

“America is better than this.”

Daisuke Tomita /AP

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After another round of reports of explosives being sent to prominent Democratic figures, Texas Republican Sen. Ted Cruz issued a statement condemning the attempted bombings and—as he has done with increasing frequency during his tight reelection campaign—calling for a de-escalation of political rhetoric:

“Political disagreements are fine, even healthy, but we should always be civil and respect each other’s humanity,” he tweeted.

A day earlier, Cruz joked about throwing his Democratic opponent, Rep. Beto O’Rourke, in a prison cell with Hillary Clinton. And on Monday, he appeared at a rally in Houston with President Donald Trump, who ran for office in part on the idea of prosecuting his political rival. In his speech, Trump suggested that a group of Central American asylum seekers were a violent mob (if not in fact terrorists) who were sent to the United States by Democrats. Last week, Trump praised Republican Rep. Greg Gianforte for body-slamming a reporter who was trying to ask a question about health care.

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From the desk of Mother Jones CEO, Monika Bauerlein...

Newsrooms can be funded in many ways. One of the most controversial (and volatile) ways is by a for-profit corporation or a billionaire owner. We see it across the headlines on a weekly basis: the claw backs in public media, the gutting of The Washington Post, the bending over backwards to appeal to Trump and his allies.

But not here.

When Mother Jones first started publishing 50 years ago, our founders made a critical decision: to be a reader-supported nonprofit. They knew that no corporate owner would be interested in a muckraking newsroom; they also knew that no muckraking newsroom would be interested in following the agenda of a corporate owner.

And so, we’ve been reader-funded for half a century. We rely on contributions from our readers—readers like you—whether it’s $50, or $15 a month, or whatever fits your budget. People give what they can, and every donation makes a difference for our newsroom, which has grown tremendously—in size and reach and renown—since its inception in 1976.

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Every donation Mother Jones receives from readers fortifies our newsroom, whether we’re covering underreported scandals out of Washington, DC, or the most important news of the day. And right now, each donation will be doubled because of our $50,000 match. So when you make a donation—$5, $50, any amount—it’ll go twice as far.

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