Sen Ted. Cruz (R-Texas) wrote this message on Facebook that incited the herd of right-wing racists to storm his page:
“Nelson Mandela will live in history as an inspiration for defenders of liberty around the globe. He stood firm for decades on the principle that until all South Africans enjoyed equal liberties he would not leave prison himself, declaring in his autobiography, ‘Freedom is indivisible; the chains on any one of my people were the chains on all of them, the chains on all of my people were the chains on me.’ Because of his epic fight against injustice, an entire nation is now free. We mourn his loss and offer our condolences to his family and the people of South Africa.”
“Let’s not forget that Mandela called Castro’s Communist revolution ‘a source of inspiration to all freedom-loving people,’” said Mike Bates.
Another FB user, Derek Crawford wrote, “stunned to see you support this scumbag, Mr. Cruz…Mandela was a murderer and a terrorist..not to mention a communist.”
A third person wrote: “Go home Ted your drunk. He was a communist terrorist who targeted people for no other reason than being white [sic],” another commenter Shane Spade wrote.
And the purity test that requires Tea Partiers to reject any praise for Mandela isn’t limited to communism or the implication that he is a racist because he fought against white supremacy. Another commenter found a way to connect Mandela’s political crimes to his support for women’s reproductive freedom.
“He was also a huge supporter of abortion! Don’t put him too high up! Careful Mr. Cruz,” Paula McGlothin wrote.
Another anti-choice conservative, Debbie Metts, wrote, “I see that the convicted terrorist and abortion-lover Mandela has finally met the Maker whom he never acknowledged as far as I know,” complete with a link to her friends ranting wing nutty blog post about the alleged “crimes” of Mandela.
Matt Helm actually said that South Africa was better off before Mandela was president. “Yeah…not with you on this one, Ted. Might want to reign in the warm and fuzzy interns posting on your page on your behalf, Mandela was not a hero and South Africa is NOT better off because of his work,” he wrote.
Cruz’s supporters seem the most disappointed in the senator’s need to appear politically correct.
Carolyn Dodd wrote, “Tell the truth Ted!!! Who are you??!! Obama?? Don’t rewrite history to try to get people to like you!!! Educate them!! Mandela was a murderer, terrorist, and a Communist!!!! Can we even trust you to be honest now ??!!”
From another anti-Mandela person: “Mandela wasn’t worth the loss of a single tear. This is a time for celebration. He’s just lucky he never got justice handed to him for the cruelty he and his government inflicted on people,” Benjamin Broda wrote. Another commenter Joe Dowda wrote, “Come on Ted. Mandela was a thug, mass murder, and a terrorist, and you stand there and shout accolades, gimme a break!”
This is from Taylor Hartmann: “Well I’m sorry I voted for you Cruz. Really disappointed in [c]onservatives tonight for they’re [sic] ignorance about him. I didn’t realize we conservatives glorified racist, Marxist, terrorists but I guess all you politicians are the same.”
