'A pitiful example of corrupt corporate media': Furious Ted Cruz attacks Brian Williams after the MSNBC anchor labeled him 'Kremlin Cruz' for 'peddling Russian propaganda'
Ted Cruz has torn into 'corrupt' Brian Williams, accusing him of being beholden to 'corporate overlords' after the MSNBC anchor said Cruz was promoting 'Russian propaganda'.
The war of words erupted after Cruz criticized the US Army's new recruitment video as promoting a 'woke, emasculated military', while contrasting it with a Russian military ad.
Williams accused the Texas Senator of a 'remarkably stupid lapse in judgment' on his MSNBC show Friday, and suggested he be referred to as 'Kremlin Cruz.'
Williams also claimed Cruz was peddling 'Russian propaganda' and wanted to be one day be leader of the former Soviet state.
In a lengthy Twitter tirade, Cruz called Williams a 'pitiful example of corrupt corporate media' and brought up Williams' 2003 firing for 'misrepresenting events' during the 2003 Iraq War.
MSNBC anchor Brian Williams labeled Ted Cruz a peddler of Russian propaganda for sharing a video unfavorably comparing a US Army's 'woke' recruitment video with a Russian one
Williams told viewers of The 11th Hour the Texas senator deserved a new nickname: 'Kremlin Cruz'
Cruz hit back against Williams, labeling him a 'pitiful example of corrupt corporate media' on Twitter
Cruz posted a six-part Twitter response to Brian Williams, which quickly racked up thousands of retweets
Cruz, the Texas senator, last week triggered online fury after questioning the role of what he called an 'emasculated military' and comparing it with a video that appeared to show a rugged, shaven-headed Russian recruit parachuting into combat.
'The job of the military is to kill the bad guys. And it is to strike fear in the enemies of America,' he told Fox News as he defended himself from accusations that he was unloading on serving U.S. troops.
'People sign up to join the military because they want to keep us safe, they don't want to sit around a circle, emoting and passing daisies back and forth.'
His comments highlight fears America's armed forces are being softened by 'woke' principles and follows similar criticism of a CIA advert.
The latest controversy features an American video telling the story of Cpl. Emma Malonelord, a serving soldier who describes how she came to choose a life in the military.
The colorful, animated recruiting video describes how she defended freedom by attending LGBTQ marches and grew up to join the U.S. Army.
It achieved notoriety when Cruz tweeted out a TikTok clip, that opened with the Russian soldier leaping out of a plane before cutting to the animated story of Malonelord.
'Holy crap,' he wrote in a tweet.
'Perhaps a woke, emasculated military is not the best idea....'
Cruz's words quickly went viral, unleashing an angry torrent of accusations that he was trolling his own country's American armed forces and had been suckered by an adversary's propaganda.
And veterans expressed fury that he could criticize the Army and target a real-life serving soldier.
Williams joined in the attack on Friday night, saying Cruz was peddling Russian propaganda by putting out the two adverts.
Cruz responded with a six-part Twitter post that quickly gained thousands of retweets.
Cruz wrote: 'Is there a more pitiful example of corrupt corporate media than Brian Williams? He was fired as the anchor of NBC Nightly News for 'misrepresenting events which occurred while he was covering the Iraq War in 2003.' Now, he's a left-wing hack at MSNBC.
'Now, he's throwing a hissy fit that I criticized the ridiculously woke video that the Biden admin put out. Williams accidentally told the truth, when he describes it as 'a video meant to diminish the U.S. military.' TRUE. That's the problem. (The Pentagon put it out.)
'Now, with his trademark ignorant snark, he's dubbed me 'Kremlin Cruz.' Three problems: (1) I hate communists, my family was imprisoned & tortured by communists, and Brian is a shameless apologist for Russian (and Chinese and Cuban) communists.
'(2) I was arguing that our military needs to be able to kick the ass of Russian soldiers. It's Brian & his lefty comrades that are working relentlessly to diminish the effectiveness of the U.S. military—the finest fighting force on the face of the planet.
'And (3) JUST THIS WEEK Biden gave Putin a multi-billion-dollar gift, when he waived mandatory U.S. sanctions to allow Russia to build Nord Stream 2, a massive natural gas pipeline to Germany. Who authored the sanctions that STOPPED NS2? That would be me.
'Cover that, Brian. But that would be actual news, something you don't do. Use your condescending wit to call Biden 'Kremlin Joe'—he's the one illegally giving billions to Putin. But your corporate overlords wouldn't let you. Congrats, Brian. You are Pravda.'
The new Army ad shows Corporal Emma Malonelord's mothers getting married after one suffered serious injuries following a car accident
The advertising campaign shows an animated Corporal Emma Malonelord (pictured) attending a gay rights parade in a video that sparked a row about the future of the American military. Sen. Ted Cruz said it showed how Democrats and the 'woke media' were turning soldiers into 'pansies' in comments that triggered accusations that he was trolling America's troops
In contrast, the Russian video shows a bare chested recruit leaping from his bed, working out and then leaping from a plane with a parachute
The Russian soldier is shown taking up a prone firing position, staring down his rifle scope in wintry, arctic conditions
The Army recruitment ad centered around the real life of Corporal Emma Malonelord (pictured)
Sen. Tammy Duckworth, who lost both her legs while serving as a helicopter pilot in Iraq, responded by mirroring Cruz's language.
'Holy crap,' she wrote. 'Perhaps a U.S. Senator shouldn't suggest that the *Russian* military is better than the American military that protected him from an insurrection he helped foment?'
Malonelord's story is told in a colorful video, describing how she grew up with two mothers.
'I also marched for equality,' she narrates as it shows her at a gay rights march.
'I like to think I've been defending freedom from an early age.'
She is pictured as a bridesmaid for her two mothers when they marry, before signing up with the Army, which she says was a way 'to prove my inner strength.'
The progressive veterans group VoteVets also condemned Cruz.
'Ted Cruz attacks a US Army soldier for telling her story, says he prefers Russians,' it wrote on its Twitter feed. 'Because Ted Cruz is a sedition-loving traitor.'
Cruz's tweet triggered a backlash on Twitter as he was accused of trolling his own country's armed forces in favor of those of an adversary
But other conservatives rallied around the Texas senator.
John Noonan, an adviser to Sen. Tom Cotton, shared the TikTok video saying: 'We are going to be the most tolerant military in history ever to lose a war.'
And Cruz himself reveled in the controversy he triggered as he continued to bait opponents.
'I’m enjoying lefty blue checkmarks losing their minds over this tweet, dishonestly claiming that I’m "attacking the military,"' he said late Thursday.
'Uh, no. We have the greatest military on earth, but Dem politicians & woke media are trying to turn them into pansies.'
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