Legion Troll
A fine upstanding poster
Just over a year after giving Middle Eastern Christians advice that could have put them in danger, Cruz announced Syrian Christian refugees are not a threat and should be first in line to enter the U.S.
In 2014, the senator struck a very different tone with Christians from the Middle East—and it wasn’t pretty.
On Sept. 10, 2014, Cruz headed to the Omni Shoreham hotel in Washington to speak at a conference called “In Defense of Christians”.
The fact Cruz was speaking there at all caused waves in the conservative press.
It started when the Washington Free Beacon reported earlier that day that some of the conference’s speakers and attendees had controversial affiliations; one speaker had previously defended Hezbollah, and another – years earlier – had touted a conspiracy theory about “Christians with Zionist orientations.”
Despite the bad press, Cruz took the stage that evening, saying that everyone present was united by their commitment to defending persecuted Christians and Jews. He criticized ISIS, Hamas, Al-Qaeda, and Hezbollah, all to applause.
But then he started talking about Israel.
“Christians have no greater ally than the Jewish state,” he said, to a mixture of boos and applause. “Let me say this, those who hate Israel, hate America.”
A mixture of boos and applause followed.
“If you will not stand with Israel and the Jews, I will not stand with you,” he concluded, exiting the stage.
The next day, Cruz doubled-down, defending his decision to walk out on the group.
He even gave a statement saying the evening “deteriorated into a shameful display of bigotry and hatred.”
Breitbart’s initial headline of one story implied the event’s attendees weren’t really Christians.
The event’s organizers — who brought together a historic group of Christian leaders at a moment when their communities faced (and still face) genocide — weren’t impressed.
“He came to a summit in defense of Christians and actually endangered Christian lives,” said the group’s executive director, Andrew Doran.
“People had come here trusting us not to put their lives in danger,” Doran continued. “People had come here for the sake of unity, and for politicians to take advantage of this for their own agenda is absolutely disgraceful.”
Cruz has apologized to conservative political pundits He has never expressed remorse for demanding that attendees applaud Israel or for characterizing them as hateful bigots.
http://www.keypolitics.com/ted-cruz-demonized-arab-christians-before-he-liked-them-daily-beast/