AUSTIN, Texas — U.S. Sen. Ted Cruz has come under fire for his comments equating villains such as Thanos from “Avengers: Endgame” with left-wing environmentalists.
Cruz made the comments to Michael Knowles, the co-host of his podcast, “Verdict with Ted Cruz.”
The senator from Texas said bad guys like Thanos or the villains in the DC comic “Watchmen” are like left-wing activists who believe “people are a disease.”
The comment was part of a discussion about President Joe Biden’s climate policies and new climate czar former Secretary of State John Kerry.
"You know, you talked about inevitable. And I have to say, it brought to mind 'Avengers: Endgame.' And, you know, Kerry doesn't quite have the massive Thanos hands and fingers, but you could see the inevitable and the finger-snapping. And actually what is interesting in 'Endgame' is curious. Have you noticed in how many movies how often rabid environmentalists are the bad guys? Whether it's Thanos, or go to 'Watchmen,' where the view of the left is people are a disease. They buy into the Malthusian line that there are too many people in the world, that people are bad and everything would be better if we had fewer people. I mean, Thanos wanted to eliminate 50% of the lifeforms of the universe with one finger-snapping."
The villains from “Watchmen” include Ozymandias, who releases an interdimensional squid to prevent a nuclear war between the U.S. and the Soviet Union, and, in the 2019 HBO series, white supremacists who wage war against racial minorities and police.
Comic book fans and those who worked on the stories quickly rebuked the senator, disputing the notion the works were about environmentalism.
Writer and producer for HBO’s “Watchmen” said on Twitter, “Hi, @SenTedCruz, Watchmen writer/producer here. Literally what the [expletive] are you talking about?”
Cruz has faced strong criticism for his decision to try and block the certification of the Electoral College vote count and has been targeted by critics who say he helped encourage those who stormed the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6.
Screenwriter Filup Molina responded to Cruz’s comments, saying, “Ted Cruz just compared Democrats to Thanos, but remind me who tried to make the votes of more than half of America disappear at the snap of a finger?”
Writer Tom King said on Twitter, "Hey @tedcruz, I say this as a comic book writer, as someone who served his country in two wars, as someone who saw with my own eyes the insurrection of 1/6: Senator, you’re a bad guy, you’re a villain, you’re a traitor—and, again and again and again, you’re a loser. Resign."
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