Ted Cruz’s Father Says Jews Are ‘Democrats First’
Image by Getty Images
The father of 2016 Republican presidential candidate Ted Cruz told a Florida Tea Party audience that Jews are “Democrats first and Jews second.”
Rafael Cruz made the explosive comments, along with similar remarks about Catholics, on Saturday, in front of the Palm Beach County Tea Party.
“This is what has happened to a great many in the Catholic Church,” “They are Democrats first and Catholics second.”
Rafael Cruz is not officially part of his sons’ campaign team, but appears at his sons’ events. He is an evangelical preacher and director of the religious group, Purifying Fire International ministry.
“Hitler was very smart,” Cruz began. “Hitler went to the pastors and pat them on the back and said, ‘look, you take care of their souls, I’ll take care of all the rest of it. In other words, you keep locked inside your church and leave the rest to me’… and as a result of that, six million Jews were massacred.”
According to Cruz, the Church had a responsibility to monitor the government, and failed, so that was the reason for the Holocaust.
“We need to put principle above tradition,” he said. “There are people voting Democrat because, ‘My grandfather or my father voted Democrat.’ Let me tell you something. The Democratic party today is not the Democratic party of John Kennedy. John Kennedy would be a Republican today.”
A message from our CEO & publisher Rachel Fishman Feddersen
I hope you appreciated this article. Before you go, I’d like to ask you to please support the Forward’s award-winning, nonprofit journalism during this critical time.
At a time when other newsrooms are closing or cutting back, the Forward has removed its paywall and invested additional resources to report on the ground from Israel and around the U.S. on the impact of the war, rising antisemitism and polarized discourse..
Readers like you make it all possible. Support our work by becoming a Forward Member and connect with our journalism and your community.
— Rachel Fishman Feddersen, Publisher and CEO
