Ted Cruz slams Dems, media at California GOP convention

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(The Center Square) - U.S. Sen. Ted Cruz, R-Texas, called the Democratic Party the party of the rich and the press "liars" during an hour-long speech at this weekend's California Republican Convention.

Cruz also discussed some of the national Republican Party’s priorities, which include fighting for parental rights, pushing back on transgender ideology and curbing illegal immigration.

“We have seen illegal border crossings drop more than 99%,” Cruz told a ballroom audience of prominent Republicans on Saturday night at the Sheraton San Diego Resort. “What does it mean when illegal border crossings drop 99%? We’ve seen the murder rate across America drop 20%. That’s real results.”

That figure doesn’t affect the issue of drug abuse enough, however, Cruz said at the dinner.

“In 2025, that number dropped to 71,000,” Cruz said about deaths from drug overdoses. “That number is still too high, but there are 36,000 Americans who are still alive today because President Trump was re-elected in 2024 and we have a Republican Senate and a House standing up and securing the border and keeping us safe.”

Cruz also spoke about providing tax cuts to families, increasing national general fund budget allocations to the U.S. military and cutting taxes on tips for workers who hold jobs in which tips are part of their wages.

“We passed new tax cuts, like no tax on tips,” Cruz said. “We passed no tax on overtime, no tax on Social Security. April 15 is coming up, and all across the country now, people are getting tax refunds.”

Cruz also spoke about school choice and savings accounts for children created under last year’s federal budget resolution, House Resolution 1 - the One Big Beautiful Bill Act. Those savings accounts are known as the “Trump Accounts,” Cruz said.