Ted Cruz tells Lincoln Project 'pedophiles' to 'stop talking about my children' after group co-founder uses senator's kids as part of media attack

Republican Sen. Ted Cruz (Texas) lashed out at the Lincoln Project on Monday after one of the anti-Trump political action committee's co-founders mentioned the senator's children during a media attack.

Cruz had apparently drawn the ire of the liberal super PAC, made up of former Republicans, after criticizing "Sesame Street's" COVID-19 vaccine campaign for young children as "government propaganda."

During an interview on MSNBC Monday night, Lincoln Project co-founder Steve Schmidt offered his seething opinion on the controversy, labeling Cruz's perspective on the campaign an example of "abject stupidity." In the attack, Schmidt felt it necessary to bring up the senator's children.

"If Ted Cruz had kids that age, the chances that they would be unvaccinated are exactly zero. Zero. So, this is another moment of just abject stupidity of a United States senator," he blasted.

The attack didn't sit well with Cruz, who, shortly after the Lincoln Project posted Schmidt's remarks on Twitter, responded with an attack of his own.

"The pedophiles at [Lincoln Project] need to stop talking about my children," Cruz wrote.

The rebuttal was a gut punch to the much-maligned organization that in recent months has grappled with several serious controversies.

The most notable controversy was the revelation that another one of the group's co-founders, John Weaver, had frequently sent "inappropriate" sexually charged messages to multiple young men over the course of his career in politics.

Weaver's admission that he engaged in the behavior came following public accusations from at least 21 young men who acknowledged that Weaver demonstrated grooming behavior by sending the messages alongside promises to advance their career.

It was later reported that PAC leadership was likely aware of the allegations against Weaver nearly a year before the scandal went public, despite issuing a statement saying the PAC was "shocked" when allegations began surfacing.

Following months of scandals that nearly sank the organization, Schmidt re-emerged into the public eye earlier this year to say that the Lincoln Project would continue its fight against "Trumpism."

"We're going to be back fully operational in our attacks on the extremist, anti-democratic movement," he declared. "We're going to be on offense and we're going to take the fight to people who deserve to have the fight taken to them."

Not so long after, the group was caught up in yet another controversy after being forced to admit that they were the perpetrators behind a bizarre campaign stunt involving a race hoax against Republican Glenn Youngkin during the Virginia gubernatorial race.