Cruz Compares Negotiating Border with Schumer to Dealing with 'Hannibal Lecter'

Senator Ted Cruz (R-TX) spoke on the Senate border deal and discussed his and other Republicans' frustrations with attempting to bargain with upper chamber leadership.

Senator James Lankford (R-OK) is attempting to negotiate on behalf of the Republicans.

In a Friday press conference, Sen. Cruz said dealing with Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY) was like working with "Hannibal Lecter."

“Negotiating with Chuck Schumer on securing the border is like putting Hannibal Lecter in charge of a ‘go-vegan’ ad campaign. He might dine on your liver with a healthy side of fava beans, but it’s not going to remotely do what the suggested objective is.”

Furthermore, while speaking to Texas Politics, Sen. Cruz initially stated that he had “very serious concerns” regarding what he’s heard about the deal.

Sen. Cruz was asked about Democrats calling on Republicans to pass immigration reform policies despite the GOP passing HR 2 in May. Cruz called this prospect “utterly absurd.”

“It is utterly absurd. Joe Biden inherited the lowest rate of illegal immigration in 45 years. And he deliberately opened our southern border. That was a decision from Joe Biden, Kamala Harris, and the Democrats. And the consequences have been devastating,” said the Texas senator.

He continued, “Biden could solve this problem tomorrow. It was a unilateral decision on his part. There were three decisions that caused this crisis. He immediately halted construction on the wall, he reinstated the failed policy of catch and release, and he pulled out of the incredibly successful remain-in-Mexico agreement. That caused the crisis at our southern border.”

Since that press conference, new reports of the Senate border deal came to light.

According to Manu Raju, CNN’s Chief Congressional Correspondent, the deal shows that border restrictions could only occur if border crossings “surge to 5,000 daily average over a week.” The next threshold is 8,500 crossings a day.

Referring to the alleged deal above, Sen. Scott said “SHUT IT DOWN.”

“No. SHUT IT DOWN until we have a President who will actually secure our border. Biden wants us to green light his border policies into law by ok-ing 1.8M migrants per year. We must do better,” said Sen. Scott.

Additionally, the Florida senator admonished Senate leadership for not allowing everyone to see the border deal, as it is being negotiated behind closed doors.

“The media is telling us more about this border bill than Senate Leadership! If this is such a good bill, then LET US SEE IT,” said Scott.

Senators Cruz and Scott are both junior senators of their respective states.