Plugs also claims the “bulk of the Republican party” are “cowering” because of Cruz and Rand Paul, as if that is a bad thing.
Via Roll Call:
Vice President Joseph R. Biden Jr. on Tuesday night blamed conservative Sens. Rand Paul of Kentucky and Ted Cruz of Texas for sinking a bipartisan background check bill and, more generally, for stoking a fear of ideological primaries that has gridlocked Congress.
At a Washington fundraiser for Massachusetts Democrat Edward J. Markey, who is running in a special election to fill the seat vacated by Secretary of State John Kerry, Biden teed off on the GOP, especially its tea party wing. The vice president’s central argument to Democratic donors was as much, if not more, a knock against the national Republican Party as it was a ringing endorsement for Markey.
“I’m not talking about the character or even the quality of the minds of the people I’m going to mention. But the last thing in the world we need now is someone who will go down to the United States Senate and support Ted Cruz, support the new senator from Kentucky — or the old senator from Kentucky,” Biden said, according to a pool report of the event.
“Have you ever seen a time when two freshman senators are able to cower the bulk of the Republican Party in the Senate? That is not hyperbole,” Biden continued. “On the gun issue, I don’t care what your position is — I called 17 senators out, nine of whom were Republicans. Not one of (them) offered an explanation on the merits of why they couldn’t vote for the background check. But almost to a person, they said, ‘I don’t want to take on Ted Cruz. I don’t want to take on Rand Paul. They’ll be in my district.’