Ted Cruz Appeared to Say We Should "Stop Attacking Pedophiles" in a Hearing

Thanks in large part to the ongoing intrigue around Jeffrey Epstein and his relationship with President Trump, pedophilia is a topic in Washington, D.C., in ways that are fairly unusual. Epstein, you may recall, was convicted of trafficking girls and also had a well-established friendship with Donald Trump.

All of that background brings us to what appears to have been a verbal slip-up from Ted Cruz on Sept. 30. During a hearing on the Trump administration's response to crime in cities, Cruz appears to have said something he didn't quite mean. Here's what we know.

In the clip, which is going viral on social media, Cruz is discussing things that he hopes all politicians can agree are important around crime. "We should have bipartisan agreement," Cruz started. "How about we all come together and say, 'Let's stop murders?' How about we all come together and say 'Let's stop rapes?' How about we all come together and say, 'Let's stop attacking pedophiles?'"

While the first two things Cruz listed are definitely items most people should be able to agree on, it seems unlikely that Cruz actually meant to say that we should "stop attacking pedophiles."

While it was most likely just a verbal gaffe (people unintentionally say the opposite of what they actually mean all the time), many were quick to leap on it as the kind of Freudian slip that might happen to Cruz because of what he knows about Trump's connection to Epstein.

"That's the full clip. Ted Cruz wants people to stop attacking pedophiles, well, at least ONE particular pedophile," one person wrote on X (formerly Twitter).

"Crazy that Ted Cruz hasn't cleared up his comments about coming together to protect pedophiles yet!" another person added.

While most people know that it was a slip-up, many nonetheless took the opportunity to attack the senator.

These comments were certainly an unfortunate slip-up, however, Cruz has shown at least some reluctance to "releasing the Epstein files" to the general public before. According to The San Antonio Current, Cruz voted against releasing the files in mid-September, as did most of the rest of the Republican caucus.

Although we don't know exactly what those files might contain, at least not in their entirety, it seems like most Republicans are worried that they could be damaging to President Trump, which is why they have so consistently voted against releasing more information about them.

Cruz's comments suggesting that we should "stop attacking pedophiles" might or might not have anything to do with whether he knows more about Jeffrey Epstein than he has said publicly. It might not feel like the kind of comment that needs clarification because it seems so obvious that it was a mistake, but Cruz's opponents are almost guaranteed to use it against him for a little while.