Ted Cruz knows exactly who is to blame for failed border bill — and he's demanding accountability: 'Entirely avoidable'

Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Texas) is calling on Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R) to step down as leader of Senate Republicans.

Asked at a press conference on Tuesday if he believes it is time for McConnell to go, Cruz confirmed, "I think it is."

"I think a Republican leader should actually lead this conference and should advance the priorities of Republicans," Cruz explained.

The problem, according to Cruz, is that Senate Republican leadership used Sen. James Lankford (Okla.) — the Republican who co-authored the bill with Sens. Kyrsten Sinema (I-Ariz.) and Chris Murphy (D-Conn.) — as a sacrificial lamb to write a bill that is "designed to lose."

The secret negotiations, Cruz said, resulted in a policy disaster for Republicans.

Even worse, the bill awards Democrats a victory, not only because it doesn't end the border crisis but also because it gives them political ammunition to use against Republicans ahead of the upcoming election.

"Who won in this battle? His name is Charles Schumer," Cruz later explained on Fox News.

"The purpose of this bill was to let every Democrat running for the Senate and running for the House stand up and say, self-righteously, 'I wanted to secure the border, I really wanted to, but those mean Republicans wouldn't let me,'" he continued. "I've got to say, Senate Republican leadership — I told them this months ago, other conservatives told them months ago, and they proceeded down this this path that ended up — it was a box canyon with a kamikaze pilot crashing into a wall. It was a disaster. And it was entirely avoidable."

Cruz first advocated for McConnell to step down after the disappointing 2022 midterm elections in which Republicans squandered the opportunity to win control of the House and Senate. But McConnell refused.

For his part, McConnell responded to Cruz on Tuesday, saying, "I think we can all agree that Sen. Cruz is not a fan."

Later, McConnell dismissed his critics and said the only way to solve the border crisis is to compromise with Democrats.

"I've had a small group of persistent critics the whole time I've been in this job. They had their shot," McConnell told Politico. "The reason we've been talking about the border is because they wanted to, the persistent critics. ... You can't pass a bill without dealing with a Democratic president and a Democratic Senate."

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