Actions of Sen. Ted Cruz at Capitol denounced by Princeton University classmates in joint statement

A few hundred Princeton University alumni who were classmates of Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Texas) have denounced his actions this week in a joint statement, condemning him for undermining democracy and the U.S. Constitution.

Cruz, a 1992 graduate of Princeton University, formally objected to the certification of Arizona’s Electoral College vote count on Jan. 6. Shortly after Cruz challenged Arizona’s results on Wednesday afternoon, rioters overtook the Capitol building, forcing Congress to halt the certification process of the 2020 election. The riots left several people dead, including a woman who was shot and killed by U.S. Capitol Police, and a Capitol Police officer from New Jersey.

The statement, from Princeton classmates of Cruz, developed by alumna Elise Harris, notes that he took an oath as an elected official to “preserve, protect, and defend the Constitution of the United States against all enemies foreign and domestic.”

“Inventing false claims of voter fraud that lawyers are too afraid to present in courts where there are actual consequences for lying, and trying to use the ensuing controversy to challenge a constitutionally proper proceeding to ratify the decision of the Electoral College is by all fair measures utterly inconsistent with this oath,” reads the statement, which had been signed by more than 300 classmates as of Saturday afternoon.

“Ted Cruz ’92 did all of the above and then, unconscionably, sent out a fundraising appeal during an attack on the electoral vote certification process on Jan 6, 2021,” reads the statement. “We, the undersigned Princeton alumni, class of ’92, unequivocally condemn the attempt of fellow graduate Ted Cruz ‘92 to undermine democracy and our Constitution by improperly challenging the election of Joe Biden and Kamala Harris as president and vice-president of the United States.”

Some Democrats in Congress have called on Cruz to resign. Cruz responded by saying Democrats are just “playing politics” and trying to attack “strong conservative leaders.”