this post was submitted on 21 Feb 2026
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In what appeared to be a moment of misspeaking, anti-LGBTQ+ Republican Sen. Ted Cruz (TX) said in a recent congressional speech, “How about we all come together and say ‘Let’s stop attacking pedophiles’?”

During a congressional hearing on the current president’s actions addressing crime in cities — which seems mostly to be insulting large city mayors, ignoring higher-crime areas in red states, and then sending in armed federal officers against the mayors’ wishes — Sen. Cruz referred to Sen. Cory Booker’s (D-NJ) plea for Democrats and Republicans to “come together and have bipartisan agreement.”

“I think that’s a great idea. We should have bipartisan agreement,” Cruz said. “How about we all come together and say, ‘Let’s stop murder’? How about we all come together and say, ‘Let’s stop rape’? How about we all come together and say, ‘Let’s stop attacking pedophiles’?”

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[–] givesomefucks@lemmy.world 182 points 4 weeks ago (2 children)

Same article as September for those curious if Raphael did it again, it's just an old article.

[–] LMurch@thelemmy.club 25 points 4 weeks ago (5 children)

I have a feeling he was trying to say, "let's stop calling people pedos". That's the best sane-washing I can do.

Have we seen Cruz's name in the 'Trump Files - featuring Jeffrey Epstein'? Maybe he really is standing up for the Epstein class. He's been known to lick Trump's boots, every now and then.

[–] GuyFawkesV@lemmy.world 6 points 4 weeks ago (1 children)

Cruz is a piece of shit but I don’t recall seeing anything about him being the files, so guessing he’s just a bootlicker like you said.

[–] fartographer@lemmy.world 5 points 4 weeks ago

It's possible. It's also possible that he just couldn't afford to be in the Trump/Epstein files. Maybe his more affordable version of torturing children and animals is abandoning his dog during a freeze to fly to Cancun and then loudly blaming his children?

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[–] kn33@lemmy.world 64 points 4 weeks ago (2 children)

September 30, 2025

Not that I think it's unimportant, but I wish we'd keep things current here.

[–] tonytins@pawb.social 12 points 4 weeks ago (5 children)

Oh... No idea how it resurfaced in my feed.

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[–] SharkAttak@kbin.melroy.org 6 points 4 weeks ago (1 children)
[–] LadyMeow@lemmy.blahaj.zone 7 points 4 weeks ago (1 children)

And here I was perplexed, did he do the same blunder again??

[–] Rhaedas@fedia.io 4 points 4 weeks ago

More importantly, nothing was done. A decade or more ago, associating and supporting such things was done, but quietly. Now (or last year) it's openly okay for a Congressperson to say it out loud. That, and saying fascism is fine. We're past the point of warning signs, the house is on fire.

[–] VitoRobles@lemmy.today 43 points 4 weeks ago* (last edited 4 weeks ago) (3 children)

For the past decade, senator Rafael Edward Cruz, who immigrated here from Canada and who goes by a different name for some reason, continues to be the most shittiest human being to everybody. From dead naming people, to blocking social services, to fleeing Texas when it got too cold, texas being the state he immigrated to.

Yet people keep voting for him.

[–] voxthefox@lemmy.blahaj.zone 12 points 4 weeks ago

As a texan, it is crazy he is still a senator, our other senator, Corbyn, is equally as batshit insane but gets cover because Cruz gets all the press for his antics. Last election we were close to getting a democrat to oust Crus (Beto) but then just before the election the shooting happened in Beto's hometown of El Paso and he went off the rails on gun control ,for a Texas democrat at least, which is basically a death kneel in Texas politics unfortunately and he ended up losing by a thin margin. It is unendingly frustrating to see the texas democratic party operate, constantly shooting themselves in the foot, pun intended.

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[–] HubertManne@piefed.social 33 points 4 weeks ago (2 children)

wasn't this awhile ago or did he do it again.

[–] whyNotSquirrel@sh.itjust.works 24 points 4 weeks ago

yeah, I had to check the date and it was in September last year

[–] tonytins@pawb.social 12 points 4 weeks ago

My bad. It resurfaced on my feed and I mistook for a new article.

[–] DaddleDew@lemmy.world 33 points 4 weeks ago* (last edited 4 weeks ago)

The more time passes the more I realize how widespread the problem of rich and powerful people living under a completely different set of rules has taken effect. They are abusing this situation to a point where they have developed their own subculture and much looser morality standards. They can't even help themselves but let it slip that they think that being a pedophile is considered normal now.

And that's just the tip of the lawlessness and moral depravity iceberg. We've seen on increasing occasions that they don't even care about hiding it anymore because Trump has shown them that there are no consequences.

[–] exaybachae@startrek.website 31 points 4 weeks ago* (last edited 4 weeks ago) (4 children)

Well, it's technically true. Pedophilia, attraction to children (prepubescent youths), is generally best addressed with acknowledgement, treatment, and management.

Sexual assault, and rape, and predator practices are the crimes identified pedophiles are typically found participating in if their attraction to kids isn't addressed appropriately beforehand.

Ya'll don't really think being attracted to kids is a crime itself do you? Or that there aren't thousands, or tens of thousands, of people out there that are attracted to kids and just don't act on it, or haven't been identified?

Pedophilia, though specific in nature, is a similar subject to mental health in general, in how it's treated by society. As it becomes more acceptable to admit to having mental health conditions, the instances of those conditions leading to dire circumstances dimishes.

Be more proactive, and less reactive.

Note: though it should be clear enough, I do want to specifically state that this message in no way promotes or supports criminal actions taken towards children or knowingly disregarding such actions if the assailants are rich, or any other such nonsense.

Like being tall, or black, or gay, being a pedophile is a state of being, not an action, and people should not be attacked for their state of being, full stop. Crimes they commit are another matter entirely.

[–] D_C@sh.itjust.works 27 points 4 weeks ago (1 children)

I saw a documentary about three or four decades ago with a guy who was a paedophile. After watching it I felt bad for him, he basically said "I was never abused. To me it seems natural to think of children as sexual beings. I realise why it is wrong and I will never act on it.
Think of it this way. You may find blondes beautiful, but you don't know why. Now I imagine if everyone else was wanting you dead because you like blondes. That's me. And no one will help me."

He looked for help in many different ways and places, the doctors, therapists, mental health clinics etc etc but they all just kept on reporting him to the police. I think in the end he tried to commit suicide, or he tried to chop his own balls off to stop the urges. It was something extreme. After that he got the help he needed anyways.

I've looked for it a few times but never could find it again. I may be misremembering certain things, but the basics are her knew it was a mental disorder and wanted help. But only got it when things got extreme.
These are the people who should get help.

The ones like that obese orange child rapist should get the noose.

[–] volvoxvsmarla@sopuli.xyz 4 points 3 weeks ago

I'm so glad documentaries like that exist. It was documentaries like the one you mentioned that I stumbled across and that made me realize that "locking up all the pedophile monsters" was a narrative that would harm my children, not protect them. I can barely imagine how lonely and cruel such a fate must be and the bare minimum we can do as a society is to offer the help, support, and compassion to these people.

[–] naught101@lemmy.world 19 points 4 weeks ago (1 children)

I don't think that's what Cruz was talking about

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[–] Cantaloupe@lemmy.fedioasis.cc 23 points 4 weeks ago

I can't think of a better way to quell the flames of public outcry!

[–] NihilsineNefas@slrpnk.net 21 points 3 weeks ago (1 children)

Did he say it again or was this the one from a few months back? Because either way this is hilarious

[–] klugerama@lemmy.world 9 points 3 weeks ago (1 children)

Date on the article is September 2025.

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[–] BarneyPiccolo@lemmy.today 20 points 3 weeks ago (1 children)

Just to be clear, ALL MAGAs are Pedophiles, or Pedophile Protectors.

You know another name for a Pedophile Protector?

Pedophile.

[–] thethunderwolf@lemmy.dbzer0.com 5 points 3 weeks ago (1 children)

Nazi apologists are Nazis

Pedophile protectors are pedophiles

[–] Evil_Shrubbery@thelemmy.club 4 points 3 weeks ago* (last edited 3 weeks ago) (1 children)

What about nazi pedophiles apologists protecting nazi pedophiles??

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[–] TemplaerDude@sh.itjust.works 16 points 4 weeks ago (1 children)

Inevitable.

Hope you’re proud of your representation, Texas.

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[–] collapse_already@lemmy.ml 13 points 3 weeks ago (1 children)

Ted, you stupid motherfucker, how about we start executing them instead of protecting them?

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[–] RememberTheApollo_@lemmy.world 13 points 3 weeks ago

We’d attack policy, but Republicans don’t have any.

[–] cerebralhawks@lemmy.dbzer0.com 13 points 4 weeks ago (2 children)

Does Texas still prosecute poor people for sex crimes against children? If so, then Texas isn't protecting paedophiles, they're protecting the rich.

Reddit also classifies paedophiles as a protected class and suggesting any violence against them (including saying they should face stiffer penalties/longer prison sentences) is grounds for a ban. It's why they banned me.

Take note of those who defend paedophiles. Then try to act surprised when it comes out they're nonces, too.

[–] Insekticus@aussie.zone 4 points 4 weeks ago

Yeah, that's because Spez himself is a kiddy diddler and has filled the Reddit organizational structure with like-minded individuals to help shift the Overton Window and manufacture consent for child molestation; its not just "pedophiles" they're protecting, they're trying to protect the actual child molesters and child rapists.

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[–] MehBlah@lemmy.world 12 points 3 weeks ago

Rafael cant suck enough pedo cock

[–] yonderbarn@lazysoci.al 9 points 3 weeks ago
[–] orbituary@lemmy.dbzer0.com 8 points 4 weeks ago

Article is from Sept 2025, updated October 1. I know this is shocking, but was 4 months ago.

[–] quick_snail@feddit.nl 8 points 3 weeks ago

This happened last year

[–] JasonDJ@lemmy.zip 7 points 3 weeks ago

Or, to put another way, "let's keep defending pedophiles".

[–] ZILtoid1991@lemmy.world 7 points 4 weeks ago (1 children)
[–] SippyCup@lemmy.world 5 points 4 weeks ago (3 children)

No, he's not. He's just that shitty of a person. Nobody likes him enough to invite him to a party. He's actually a step down from Elon.

[–] Lrkn_OPA@lemmy.org 7 points 4 weeks ago

Gonna insert a quote about Ted Cruz by none other than Lindsay Graham circa 2016, “If you killed Ted Cruz on the floor of the Senate, and the trial was in the Senate, nobody would convict you.” - https://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/americas/us-politics/lindsey-graham-jokes-about-killing-ted-cruz-nobody-would-convict-you-a6898206.html

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[–] CharlesDarwin@lemmy.world 7 points 4 weeks ago

They are all terrorists and pedophiles.

[–] IndustryStandard@lemmy.world 6 points 3 weeks ago

Another banger from TheOnion

No wait

[–] _stranger_@lemmy.world 5 points 3 weeks ago (2 children)

I wish that homunculus of a fleshbag had the empathetic capacity to feel any kind of philia. It might make him about literally anything but himself.

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[–] boaratio@lemmy.world 5 points 3 weeks ago (7 children)

His name is Raphael, not Ted.

[–] sploosh@lemmy.world 7 points 3 weeks ago (2 children)

I have negative love for the guy, but people have a right to call themselves what they want. Even shitty cowards.

[–] Soup@lemmy.world 7 points 3 weeks ago

While it’s true that Bruce Jenner is not their name even if they’re deeply horrid, it feels like Cruz here calls himself Ted so that he can get votes from racist people who wouldn’t elect him solely based on his name. I’m 50/50 on it.

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[–] HorikBrun@kbin.earth 4 points 4 weeks ago

Your Freudian slip is showing

[–] thermal_shock@lemmy.world 4 points 3 weeks ago

"Leave trump alone!"

Lmao, what a tool with an ugly wife.

[–] Doomsider@lemmy.world 4 points 3 weeks ago

Texas, the pedophile state. Don't like it? Maybe get some new reps!

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