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‘Threat to Democracy’: Allred Demolishes ‘All Hat No Cattle’ Cruz in ‘Combative’ Debate

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The stakes were high Tuesday night as U.S. Rep. Colin Allred, the Democratic nominee for U.S. Senate, and Republican Senator Ted Cruz, seeking re-election to a third term, met for their first and only debate. Allred, 41, a civil rights attorney and former NFL linebacker repeatedly knocked down Cruz, 53, running for a third term in office. The U.S. Senate majority is expected to be decided by possibly just two seats.

“WFAA issued a new poll for the more than 40,000 viewers on the YouTube livestream asking who won the debate,” MySanAntonio.com reported. “More than 25,000 viewers voted with 67 percent saying Allred while 33 percent said Cruz won the debate.”

Cruz is leading Allred in the latest polls by two to five points, according to FiveThirtyEight.

The Dallas Morning News called the debate “combative,” saying the candidates “attacked each other’s positions and character as they sparred over hot-button issues that included abortion, immigration and the economy.”

Congressman Allred accused Senator Cruz, whose podcast deal allegedly may have violated campaign finance laws, with having “introduced this new kind of angertainment, where you just get people upset and then you podcast about it and you write a book about it and you make some money on it, but you’re not actually there when people need you.”

READ MORE: ‘He’s Not Ok’: Questions of Trump’s ‘Cognitive Decline’ Explode Amid ‘Bizarre Behavior’

“Like when the lights went out, when 30 million Texans were relying on a senator to spring into action, he went to Cancun. That’s who he is.”

Allred attacked Cruz on abortion, one of the top issues for voters.

“I want to be very clear to the people of Texas. I support the protections and the restrictions under Roe,” Congressman Allred said. “But Senator Cruz just called himself pro-life. You’re not. You’re not pro-life. It’s not pro-life to deny women care so long that they can’t have children anymore. It’s not pro-life to force a victim of rape to carry their rapist’s baby. It’s not pro-life that our maternal mortality rate has skyrocketed up by 56%. That’s not pro-life, Senator.”

“So to every Texas woman at home and every Texas family watching this, understand that when Ted Cruz says he’s pro-life, he doesn’t mean yours.”

That line flew across social media countless times, with people posting and reposting the quote and videos of that moment.

Another line that went viral across social media was Allred prosecuting Cruz over his efforts to overturn the 2020 election, declaring the Texas Senator a “threat to democracy.”

“I have to say, you can’t be for the mob on January 6th and for the officers. You can’t,” Allred declared, as Cruz nervously chuckled. “And it’s not funny. ’cause you’re a threat to democracy.”

“Sure,” Cruz replied, and he began to laugh.

“I was on the House floor when we went through the votes. I remember when you objected to the results in Arizona. Y’all at home might remember where you were on January 6th, what you were doing. I know where I was and I know where he was.”

“I remember when they told us to reach under our seats for these gas masks, I didn’t know we had because they had deployed tear gas in the rotunda. The officers locked all the doors, we barred the doors,” Allred said. “And I texted my wife, Ali, who was seven months pregnant with our son, Cameron, and at home with our son Jordan, who wasn’t yet two. ‘Whatever happens, I love you.'”

“I took off my suit jacket and I was prepared to defend the House floor from the mob. At the same time after he’d gone around the country lying about the election, after he’d been the architect of the attempt to overthrow that election, when that mob came, Senator Cruz was hiding in a supply closet.”

Cruz, again chuckling, shook his head.

READ MORE: ‘Petulant Toddler’ Trump Smacked Down by British Journalist at Chicago Economic Club

“And that’s okay. I don’t want him to get hurt by the mob. I really don’t. This election is his accountability. You cannot be just be patriotic when your side wins,” Allred said. “If, for the first time in 250 years, this project of ours, this shared American project, that we did not have a peaceful transfer of power, the folks responsible have to be held accountable. That’s why Liz Cheney has endorsed me, has got involved in this campaign, is saying to Texans everywhere, ‘Do not put Ted Cruz back in a position of authority.’ Because he’s done it once, he’ll do it again.”

The focus on reproductive healthcare continued, with Allred slamming Cruz for supporting Texas’s abortion ban.

“Listen, it’s time to finally tell the truth here. Senator Cruz just looked into a camera and lied to Texans about my position,” Allred told voters, as Cruz chuckled. “Let’s be very clear, you should look into the camera and speak to Kate Cox, who’s watching right now and explain to her why you said that this law that you said is perfectly reasonable, why she was forced to leave her two children behind and flee our state to get the care that she needed, or look into the camera and talk to the Amanda Zurawski, who’s watching right now, and explain to her why it’s perfectly reasonable that because she had a complication in her pregnancy and was denied care so long that she may never be able to have children of her own, or to the 26,000 Texas women who have been forced to give birth to their rapist’s child under this law that you call perfectly reasonable.”

“It’s not. This is not freedom. I trust Texas women to make their own health care decisions,” Allred continued. “You know, Allie and I had two baby boys here in Dallas in the last five years. You’re scared the entire time. You don’t know what they’re gonna say, but I can’t imagine if the doctor would come in so there’s a problem with the baby or a problem with Allie, but there’s nothing I can do because Ted Cruz thinks he knows better.”

Allred also blasted Cruz over in-vitro fertilization (IVF), an issue that has also dogged—and split—Republicans.

“IVF didn’t need protecting until he got his way of going after it,” the Texas Democrat charged. “No one was thinking that we need to protect IVF until he was singularly responsible for pursuing, by putting place in place judges at the district court level, the circuit court level and the supreme court level, folks who would put at risk, this miracle technology. And you know what? It’s not just that. When he ran for President in 2016, he supported the personhood amendment. You know what that means? That would make something like IVF illegal, but also ban certain forms of birth control. You did. You did.”

Cruz interjected: “No, fundamentally false.”

“When you ran for president in 2016, you could look it up, folks,” Allred replied. “You don’t have to believe me. Again. You’ve been seeing him lie to you for 12 years. Let’s have a senator who doesn’t.”

Ultimately, Allred branded Cruz with a Texas saying, calling him “all hat and no cattle,” meaning, “all show and no substance.”

Watch the videos above or at this link.

READ MORE: Harris Goes All in With Fox News, Charlamagne, and Possibly Rogan Interviews

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News

DOJ Blasted for Taking Epstein Investigation Orders From Trump

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3 hours ago

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November 14, 2025

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Attorney General Pam Bondi quickly — and publicly — agreed to fulfill President Donald Trump’s request that she use the U.S. Department of Justice and the FBI to investigate Democrats and corporations that may have had ties to deceased sex offender Jeffrey Epstein.

Trump on Friday declared that Epstein is the “Democrat’s problem” and not Republicans’, then called for the DOJ, FBI, and Bondi “to investigate Jeffrey Epstein’s involvement and relationship with Bill Clinton, Larry Summers, Reid Hoffman, J.P. Morgan, Chase, and many other people and institutions, to determine what was going on with them, and him.”

The New York Times reported that the “inquiry appeared to be retribution for the renewed focus on his own ties to Mr. Epstein.”

Just hours later, Bondi agreed.

READ MORE: Trump Stumbles Over ‘God Bless America’ Lyrics at Veterans Day Ceremony

“Thank you, Mr. President. SDNY U.S. Attorney Jay Clayton is one of the most capable and trusted prosecutors in the country, and I’ve asked him to take the lead. As with all matters, the Department will pursue this with urgency and integrity to deliver answers to the American people,” she wrote.

The New York Times called Bondi’s acquiescence “a stark demonstration of her willingness to surrender the traditional independence of the Justice Department to serve Trump’s personal political agenda.”

The Times also reported that Bondi assigning the investigation to the Southern District of New York “could create significant conflict within an office known for its investigative might and independence.”

NBC News senior White House correspondent Garrett Haake reported that “In July, the FBI and DOJ wrote in their memo that they were not releasing the Epstein files in part because ‘We did not uncover evidence that could predicate an investigation against uncharged third parties.’ – and now, after a push from the President, here we are.”

Legal experts and other critics denounced the moves.

READ MORE: Democrat Warns How Trump Could Engineer a Path to Stay in Power After 2028

“Count the ways they’re corrupting DOJ,” wrote former longtime U.S. Attorney Joyce Vance, now an MSNBC legal analyst and professor of law. “Presidents don’t direct AG’s to open criminal cases, especially ones designating only Dems for investigation when POTUS himself is involved. DOJ doesn’t publicize criminal investigations & the AG definitely doesn’t assign them on Twitter.”

MSNBC executive producer Kyle Griffin asked, “If this investigation was legitimate, why wasn’t this investigation opened months ago? If this investigation was legitimate, why isn’t everyone mentioned in Epstein’s emails being investigated?”

Republican U.S. Rep. Don Bacon added, “When the president gives orders to Pam Bondi and our law enforcement arms of the federal government, it undercuts the credibility of our law enforcement.”

“I don’t think it’s appropriate for him to do it. I would ask him not to do that, because all it does is taint our legal system,” Bacon concluded.

Responding to Bondi’s remarks, civil liberties and national security journalist Marcy Wheeler wrote: “Unabashed corruption.”

“This has absolutely nothing to do with crime,” she stated. “Pam Bondi is just debasing her entire department for her liege so that she can stave off Congress from releasing whatever damning information she has on Trump. It’s a cover-up pure and simple and merely an indication of Trump’s desperation.”

READ MORE: ‘Mask Comes Off’: Trump Branded an ‘Elitist’ as Base Scrutinizes ‘America First’ Focus

 

Image via Reuters

 

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Democrat Warns How Trump Could Engineer a Path to Stay in Power After 2028

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5 hours ago

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November 14, 2025

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One of Capitol Hill’s most prominent — and most vocal — Democrats is warning about what he says are the ways President Donald Trump could try to remain in power beyond his current term.

President Trump has long hinted that he is interested in a third term, and even has had red “Trump 2028” caps as part of his merchandise offering. And while he recently appeared to put to rest questions about a third term — prohibited under a plain reading of the U.S. Constitution — by saying he has been told he cannot run, doubts among some still linger.

U.S. Senator Chris Murphy (D-CT) on Friday shared what he suggested were possible ways Trump could try to stay in power past 2028 — and warned he thinks it’s possible that he will.

“I think he is right now trying to scheme a way to be able to stay,” Senator Murphy told The Bulwark’s Sam Stein at the 2025 Texas Tribune Festival.

READ MORE: ‘Retribution’: Trump Calls for Epstein Inquiry Into Democrats

“I think you have a potential, two potential Supreme Court vacancies coming up,” Murphy noted, “and it may be very important for him to install folks on the Supreme Court who may be willing to entertain radical ideas about the restrictions on the Constitution, about a third term.”

Murphy continued with an alternative theory, suggesting the President Trump “may just be interested in installing Donald Trump Jr. or another family member in the White House.”

But then the Connecticut Democrat served up a warning.

“Whatever he’s planning on doing, he can’t get away with it unless he destroys the ability of the people to speak their mind in elections because he and his party are going to lose in 2026 and 2028 unless he’s successful in rigging the election,” Murphy declared.

He vowed, “we’re going to do everything in our power, and we need to order all of our advocacy in the United States Senate and the House to stop him from doing it.”

READ MORE: ‘Mask Comes Off’: Trump Branded an ‘Elitist’ as Base Scrutinizes ‘America First’ Focus

Murphy continued with his warnings.

“I don’t think anybody with ambition right now should be planning on running for president in 2028 because we may not have a free and fair election in 2028,” Murphy declared. “We all have to be in the business of saving our democracy right now.”

“I do think we have to, all of us,” he added, “be traveling the entire country, whether it be an early primary state or not, to build this political resistance movement.”

READ MORE: Trump Stumbles Over ‘God Bless America’ Lyrics at Veterans Day Ceremony

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‘Retribution’: Trump Calls for Epstein Inquiry Into Democrats

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7 hours ago

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November 14, 2025

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President Donald Trump is intensifying his efforts to thwart attempts to force the release of the Epstein files, even as the House moves toward a vote that could send disclosure legislation to his desk for his signature — or veto — further heightening scrutiny of his past ties to the late sex offender Jeffrey Epstein.

On Friday, the president announced he will ask the U.S. Department of Justice, Attorney General Pam Bondi, and the Federal Bureau of Investigation “to investigate Jeffrey Epstein’s involvement and relationship with Bill Clinton, Larry Summers, Reid Hoffman, J.P. Morgan, Chase, and many other people and institutions, to determine what was going on with them, and him.”

The New York Times reported that the “inquiry appeared to be retribution for the renewed focus on his own ties to Mr. Epstein.”

After White House officials reportedly held a Situation Room meeting with Republican Congresswoman Lauren Boebert on Wednesday to convince her — unsuccessfully — to remove her name from the discharge petition, the president on Friday took a different tack, appearing both to try to wash his hands of the entire ordeal while refocusing attention on his political opponents and others.

“Epstein was a Democrat, and he is the Democrat’s problem, not the Republican’s problem!” Trump railed on his Truth Social website, while attacking Democrats.

“The Democrats are doing everything in their withering power to push the Epstein Hoax again, despite the DOJ releasing 50,000 pages of documents, in order to deflect from all of their bad policies and losses, especially the SHUTDOWN EMBARRASSMENT, where their party is in total disarray, and has no idea what to do,” Trump alleged.

“Some Weak Republicans have fallen into their clutches because they are soft and foolish,” the president continued. “Epstein was a Democrat, and he is the Democrat’s problem, not the Republican’s problem!”

“Ask Bill Clinton, Reid Hoffman, and Larry Summers about Epstein, they know all about him, don’t waste your time with Trump. I have a Country to run!”

Deadline on Friday noted that “Since the email release, Trump has avoided answering reporters’ questions about Epstein.”

Pointing to Trump’s Friday remarks, Politico’s Kyle Cheney remarked, “Trump again pleads with Republicans to stop talking about Epstein. The pressure hasn’t worked as well as it usually does. Also, the emails show Epstein was politically amorphous, deriding Ds just as much as Rs. And these latest emails were from the Epstein estate, not DOJ.”

Attorney Aaron Parnas added, “I guarantee you if Donald Trump truly believed Epstein was the ‘Democrat’s problem,’ he would have released all of the files by now.”

 

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