People are calling the Texas senator for his alleged involvement in inciting the Capitol insurrection earlier this month, while he was arguing online with actor Seth Rogen.
L: Senator Ted Cruz (R-TX) speaks during a business meeting of the Senate Judiciary Committee ahead of Supreme Court Judge Amy Coney Barrett’s confirmation hearing on October 15, 2020 in Washington, DC. A: Seth Rogen attends Warner Bros Pictures’ “Motherless Brooklyn” premiere on October 28, 2019 in Los Angeles, California | Getty Images
L: Senator Ted Cruz (R-TX) speaks during a business meeting of the Senate Judiciary Committee ahead of Supreme Court Judge Amy Coney Barrett’s confirmation hearing on October 15, 2020 in Washington, DC. A: Seth Rogen attends Warner Bros Pictures’ “Motherless Brooklyn” premiere on October 28, 2019 in Los Angeles, California | Getty Images
Celebrities and politicians are defending actor Seth Rogen after he called Senator Ted Cruz (R-TX) for his alleged role in inciting the deadly Capitol insurrection earlier this month. Cruz was one of 147 Republicans who voted against President Joe Biden’s victory, even after the turmoil.
The heated Twitter exchange between Rogen and Cruz began on January 20, shortly after President Joe Biden took office as the 46th president of the United States. One of Biden’s first actions as president was to return to the Paris Climate Agreement, from which former President Donald Trump withdrew the United States during his term. Cruz immediately criticized Biden’s decision, saying the president “indicates that he is more interested in the views of the citizens of Paris than in the jobs of the citizens of Pittsburgh”, and provoking a reaction from public figures, including Rogen.
Cruz was echoing Trump’s comments when he announced plans to withdraw the U.S. from the international treaty in 2017 – drawing criticism from people with ties to Pittsburgh, including the city’s mayor.
The countries participating in the Paris Climate Agreement have agreed to work to “achieve a climate neutral world”. The agreement is named Paris because the United Nations met and adopted it in the French capital in 2015.
Congressman Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-NY) and Jake Tapper from CNN responded to Cruz’s tweet:
Rogen also responded to Cruz, triggering a persistent disagreement:
Cruz responded by saying, “If you are a rich and furious Hollywood celebrity, today’s Democrats are the party for you. If you are a worker, if you are a member of a union, if you work with energy or manufacturing … not so much. “
Rogen replied and added, “I am also in four unions”.
Cruz and Rogen continued to argue; at one point, Cruz said that the actor was behaving like a “Marxist with Tourette”. (According to the National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke, symptoms of Tourette’s syndrome can range from tics, including blinking, shrugging and other small movements, to more extreme muscle movements and uncontrollable vocal reactions, such as profanity. )
Then, over the weekend, Rogen called Cruz for promoting Trump’s baseless theories about electoral fraud, which culminated in a crowd of supporters of the former president attacking the Capitol on January 6. The siege left five people dead, including a Capitol police officer. Cruz, along with 146 fellow Republicans, including seven other senators, also voted against certifying Biden’s victory. They have since faced eviction requests and lost substantial funds.
“You literally inspired a deadly uprising,” tweeted Rogen. He also said he was not in a “Twitter rivalry” with Cruz, adding that the senator “inspired a deadly crowd to invade the Capitol. And I think it deserves to be ridiculed. “
In calling Cruz about his involvement in the insurrection, Rogen also tweeted to Senator Marco Rubio (R-FL):
Other celebrities and politicians came to Rogen’s defense and echoed the actor’s criticism of Cruz.
Actor and comedian Billy Eichner called Cruz’s tweets “clumsy Trump cosplay”.
Actors Josh Gad, Mark Ruffalo and Joseph Gordon-Levitt defended Rogen. Gad accused Cruz of using “false rhetoric to undermine our democracy and incite a crowd to violence”.
Former Democratic deputy Beto O’Rourke, who narrowly lost to Cruz in the Texas tests in 2018, also dragged him into a series of tweets, accusing the senator of sedition.