Cruz slams outgoing McConnell as 'one-man dictator' after leader-aligned Super PAC abandoned him in tight race
“He’s basically behaved as a one-man dictator. I don’t think we want a leader who does that,” Cruz said of McConnell, the longest-serving GOP leader in Congress.
“I think when we win in November, and I believe we’re going to see a really good election, I think Trump’s going to win. I think we’re going to win a Republican Senate and Republican House. When that happens, we’ve got enormous work to do when that happens.”
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Sen. Mitch McConnell is a “one-man dictator” of the Senate Republican conference, charges Sen. Ted Cruz. (Getty Images)
Cruz’s comments come after he blasted the Senate Leadership Fund — an independent Super PAC aimed at securing a Republican majority in the Senate — for donating “not one penny” to Cruz’s re-election campaign against Democrat Rep. Colin Allred.
“I want to see a majority leader who changes how the Senate operates, who democratizes it more,” Cruz said.
“We are getting absolutely zero support from the Senate Leadership Fund (SLF),” the Republican said previously.
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A pro-Cruz super PAC is spending $3 million to hit Colin Allred, left, on his position on boys in girls sports.
Despite the legitimate challenge posed by Allred, Cruz is favored to win the contest.
The SLF has notably spent most of its resources in states with key Republican Senate pick-up opportunities, such as Pennsylvania, Montana, Ohio, Wisconsin and Michigan.
Cruz has been critical of McConnell’s leadership and called for him to step down earlier this year, as he and a group of Republicans aired their grievances over the failed bipartisan border bill that McConnell was in favor of at the time.
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Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell concludes a news conference in the U.S. Capitol after the Senate luncheons on Sept. 24, 2024. (Tom Williams/CQ-Roll Call, Inc via Getty Images)
In a recent book on McConnell, titled “The Price of Power,” Michael Tackett, the deputy Washington bureau chief of The Associated Press, detailed how the leader allowed conference members to publicly go against him, to an extent, if it was helpful to them electorally.
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Cruz said he has also informed the three Republican candidates vying for the position of his desire for a “full and open amendment process” regarding extensive budget packages that are often thousands of pages long.
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“That would fundamentally change how the Senate operates,” Cruz said.
Fox News Digital’s Julia Johnson contributed to this report.
Jamie Joseph is a writer who covers politics. She leads Fox News Digital coverage of the Senate.
