Senator Ted Cruz took aim at CNN on Twitter Monday, accusing the cable news network of “cheerleading” for enemies of America and specifically the Taliban, who just retook control of Afghanistan, by retweeting an out-of-context, eight-second snippet of a seven-minute report by field reporter Clarissa Ward.
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In the clip, Ward notes that Taliban fighters are chanting “Death to America,” then adds, "they seem friendly at the same time — it's utterly bizarre."
In the larger report that went untweeted by Cruz, Ward goes on to explain, “The welcoming spirit only extends so far, and my presence soon creates tension.” She also says members of the new ruling party warned her to “stand to the side because I’m a woman.”
Ward also offers her observations of the terror that has now gripped many citizens of the country.
"That profound sense of anxiety — you may not see it on the streets, but it's the people who aren't on the streets today that in some ways are the real story," Ward said. "The people that are hiding in their homes, who are petrified to go out, who are worried about being targeted, who fear for their lives, who are too scared to tell their stories, but their stories must be told because in this moment their fear and their desperation is so real as we saw with those extraordinary images coming from the airport that I don't think any of us will be able to forget anytime soon."
Cruz also seemed to chide Ward for wearing a burka, which is the required dress of all women in the country under Taliban rule and which Ward also addressed in the full report.
In response, CNN fired back at Cruz with criticism for the vacation he took during his state’s power grid failure last winter that left Texas residents literally out in the cold.
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