- The American Whig-Cliosphic Society of Princeton voted to remove Senator Ted Cruz from a public service award.
- Society members voted 37-32 in favor of terminating the tribute, reported the Daily Princetonian.
- Cruz is facing criticism for his role in the January 6 uprising and on an inopportune trip to Cancún.
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America’s oldest collegiate debate society voted to remove Senator Ted Cruz from his highest honor, according to The Daily Princetonian.
The American Whig-Cliosphic Society at Princeton University passed a motion to terminate the James Madison Award for Public Service Distinction awarded to Cruz in 2016, the newspaper reported.
Society members proposed the motion because they were dissatisfied with Cruz’s support for unfounded allegations of electoral fraud in the 2020 election and the January 6 attack on the Capitol.
The award – launched in 1960 – is awarded to individuals who “took on the arduous but just cause to dedicate their lives to improving society”, according to the society’s website.
This is the first time in the history of the society that members have voted to terminate this award, said The Daily Princetonian.
After a 90-minute debate, 37 people voted in favor of termination, 32 voted not to terminate and five people abstained, the newspaper reported.
Cruz graduated from Princeton in 1992 and was considered a brilliant speaker in his youth.
The society’s board will now make a decision by the trustees whether the award should be formally revoked, according to The Daily Princetonian. They must approve.
Cruz’s approval rating has plummeted in recent weeks. An inopportune trip to Cancún, while his home state, Texas, was experiencing a catastrophic winter storm, cost him in research.
His approval rating dropped from +6 to -5 between February 18 and 28, according to a Morning Consult poll of more than 2,000 registered voters.
Cruz’s reputation was also tarnished by his refusal to accept the outcome of the 2020 presidential election.
The senator led the Republican Party’s Senate effort to object to the certification of President Joe Biden’s victory. Several lawmakers asked Cruz to step down after a pro-Trump crowd violently stormed the Capitol just minutes after he delivered a speech to the Senate floor.