WASHINGTON, DC – Senator Ted Cruz (R-TX) and radio talk show host Mark Levin thanked two dominant Democrats during a discussion at CPAC 2017 Thursday.
Both Cruz and Levin thanked Senator Harry Reid (D-NV) and Representative Keith Ellison (D-MN5) for the “most conservative (Presidential) cabinet in decades.” Ted Cruz said, “I’ll do this again – many times since January 20th, I’ve raised a glass and toasted Harry Reid because Harry Reid employed the so-called nuclear option – broke the Senate rules to change the Senate rules; lowered the threshold from confirmation from 60-vote to 51 votes.” He continued, “And it is a direct result of Harry Reid that we now have the most conservative cabinet in decades.”
The crowd laughed as Cruz went on, “So if i can be a little presumptuous Mark, let me, on behalf of CPAC, thank you Harry Reid for Attorney General Jeff Sessions,” also naming EPA Administrator Scott Pruitt, Education Secretary Betsy DeVos. Cruz also said he hoped to be thanking Harry Reid for Supreme Court Justice, Neil Gorsuch, which drew cheers and applause.
While the crowd cheered, Mark Levin piped in, “Should we thank Keith Ellison, too? Who is likely to be the next chairman of the DNC. And, I’m sure the vast majority of Americans, given his background with Farrakhan, will be very excited about that.” Levin continued, “Should we get behind him at CPAC, what you say?”
Cruz quipped, “Listen, I will commend the Democrats for one thing: if they named Keith Ellison is the head of the the DNC, then I’ll commend them for truth in advertising.”
Ellison is one of the candidates for Chair of the Democratic National Committee. The 447 DNC members will be casting their votes for DNC Chair in Atlanta, Georgia on Saturday, Feb. 25, 2017. The members will cast ballots until one of the candidates emerges with the majority.
Ellison is one of eight candidates running for the position. The others include former Labor Secretary, Tom Perez; South Bend, Indiana, Mayor Pete Buttigeig; South Carolina Democratic Party Chair Jaime Harrison; Idaho Democratic Party Executive Director Sally Boynton Brown; TV commentator Jehmu Greene; activist Sam Ronan and election lawyer Peter Peckarsky.