Colorado Politics

Bennet marks anniversary of speech tearing into Ted Cruz with ‘crocodile tears’ water bottle

Michael Bennet’s presidential campaign is marking the one-year anniversary of his impassioned Senate speech tearing into Texas Sen. Ted Cruz’s “crocodile tears” with branded campaign merchandise. 

“It’s been exactly one year since Michael took Ted Cruz to task on the Senate floor for his hypocrisy and obstruction,” the Colorado Democrat’s campaign said in a fundraising email sent Friday morning.

“If you agree we need to end the tyranny of Ted Cruz and the Freedom Caucus and actually make lasting progress for American families, get your very own Ted Cruz crocodile tears water bottle today.”

That would be a 24-ounce water bottle featuring a cartoon image of Cruz’s mug, emblazoned “Ted Cruz crocodile tears.”

It’ll set Bennet supporters back $12.

Bennet rocketed to national attention when the 24-minute diatribe went viral, quickly racking up enough views to become the second-most-watched C-Span video in the cable channel’s history.

The speech – known as “the speech” in Bennet world – quickly sparked chatter online urging the typically reserved Colorado Democrat to throw his hat in the growing presidential primary field, a suggestion he obliged a few months later.

“I have worked very hard over the years to work in a bipartisan way with the presiding officer, with my Republican colleagues, but these crocodile tears that the senator from Texas is crying for first responders are too hard for me to take,” Bennet said a year ago, dismissing Cruz’s proposal to pay some workers during the extended government shutdown.

His voice rising, Bennet continued, referring to a previous government shutdown championed by Cruz.

“Because when the senator from Texas shut this government down, my state was flooded. It was underwater. People were killed. People’s houses were destroyed. Their small businesses were ruined forever,” Bennet said.

MSNBC host Lawrence O’Donnell rhapsodized over Bennet’s speech on his program that night, saying, “He reached into his soul today and provided a thing of beauty, perfection.”

“Michael is still taking Cruz to task,” Friday’s fundraising email says alongside an animated graphic depicting the Texan bawling. “You can too!”

It isn’t the first time Bennet’s long-shot presidential campaign has asked supporters to chip in donations in exchange for themed products.

In August, Bennet said he would send one copy of “Dividing America: How Russia Hacked Social Media and Democracy,” a book he compiled about interference in the 2016 election, to Senate Republican Leader Mitch McConnell for every earmarked donation he received.

As of Friday, his campaign site shows that he’s sent 3,674 of the tomes to McConnell along with a “demand he take immediate action to protect our elections.”

Cruz’s Senate office didn’t respond on Friday to a request for comment about his colleague’s latest fundraising ploy, but last May he mocked Bennet for his antics.

“In a decade in the Senate, he’s done very little … but he did stomp his foot & yell at me on Senate floor (which he features in fundraising emails),” Cruz tweeted.

The water bottle, the Bennet campaign’s web store notes, is union-made in the U.S.A.

Democratic presidential candidate Michael Bennet’s campaign on Jan. 24, 2020, offered for sale $12 Ted Cruz Crocodile Tears water bottles to commemorate the one-year anniversary of the Colorado senator’s speech during the government shutdown, when Bennet tore into Cruz using the phrase.
(Bennet campaign)
Tags

PREV

PREVIOUS

Colorado Senate President Leroy Garcia, slew of fellow Democrats endorse Joe Biden in presidential primary

The two leading Democrats in the Colorado Senate are among two dozen elected officials and political figures endorsing former Vice President Joe Biden, the presidential candidate’s campaign said Friday. Senate President Leroy Garcia of Pueblo and Senate President Pro Tempore Nancy Todd of Aurora are supporting Biden ahead of Colorado’s March 3 Super Tuesday presidential […]

NEXT

NEXT UP

Federal Aviation Administration approves plan to reorient flight paths at DIA

The reorientation of flight paths out of Denver International Airport was approved on Friday by federal aviation regulators, according to The Denver Post. The Federal Aviation Administration will begin the Denver Metroplex Project on March 26, and stated in a press release that the decision was made after the agency “conducted thorough environmental reviews, including 24 […]


Welcome Back.

Streak: 9 days i

Stories you've missed since your last login:

Stories you've saved for later:

Recommended stories based on your interests:

Edit my interests