Sen. Cruz mocks AOC, trip to Cancun and bellows ‘FREEDOM’ to cheering CPAC crowd

Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Texas) taunted Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-N.Y.) as he addressed the Conservative Political Action Conference on Friday, making a joke out of the New York lawmaker’s fears of the deadly riot at the Capitol last month.

In his remarks, Cruz said the U.S. faces “dark times” with Democrats controlling both chambers of Congress, adding dramatically that “Bernie is wearing mittens, and AOC is telling us she was murdered,” his voice reaching a high pitch.

The reference to Sen. Bernie Sanders’ (I-Vt.) sartorial choices at President Biden’s inauguration and Ocasio-Cortez’s account of the Capitol chaos came toward the beginning of a theatrical 16-minute speech from Cruz.

He made light of his widely panned escape from frigid, blackout-plagued Texas last week to Cancun, Mexico, and he finished the speech by promising GOP successes to come and yelling: “In the immortal words of William Wallace: FREEDOM!!” The outburst was a reference to the film “Braveheart.”

The four-day convention kicked off on Thursday in Orlando, Fla., and Trump is expected to give the final speech Sunday evening.

Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Texas) and Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-N.Y.) (Getty/AP/)

Ocasio-Cortez has said she feared for her life during the Jan. 6 storming of the Capitol. She was in the Cannon House Office Building, part of the complex, during the disorder, and said on Instagram later she “did not know if I was going to make it to the end of that day alive.”

Her recollection prompted false accusations that she had misstated where she was that day.

Ocasio-Cortez’s office didn’t immediately respond to a request for comment on Cruz’s barb.

Cruz was recently criticized for taking his family to Cancun, Mexico, while millions of Texans shivered in their unheated homes during the disaster. Cruz later said the trip was a mistake.

“Orlando is awesome,” he declared. “It’s not as nice as Cancun. But it’s nice.”