Ted Cruz busted for stance on corporate PACs -- and where he really gets his money

In a biting column for the Bulwark, conservative columnist Mona Charen called out Sen. Ted Cruz (R-TX) over his well-publicized rant about no longer taking money from corporate PACs -- and pointed out it's a lot of smoke and mirrors.

On Thursday, the Texas Republican made a big show in the Wall Street Journal by announcing he will refuse corporate PAC money because corporations are becoming too "woke."

According to Cruz, "For too long, woke CEOs have been fair-weather friends to the Republican Party: They like us until the left's digital pitchforks come out. Then they run away. Or they mouth off on legislation they don't understand—and hurt the reputations of patriotic leaders protecting our elections and expanding the right to vote. Enough is enough. Corporations that flagrantly misrepresent efforts to protect our elections need to be called out, singled out and cut off," before adding, "In my nine years in the Senate, I've received $2.6 million in contributions from corporate political-action committees. Starting today, I no longer accept money from any corporate PAC. I urge my GOP colleagues at all levels to do the same."

As Charen notes, that will hardly make a blip on Cruz's fundraising based on his history and mocked him for "hyperventilating" over CEO comments.

"Cruz is saying that, all this time when Republicans were claiming that corporations were 'job creators,' it was really just code for 'they send me cash,'" she wrote. "Cruz is now telling the world that it was a sham. It was all a quid pro quo. What a great look."

Writing, "Cruz has gone further, piously announcing that while, in the past, he received $2.6 million in donations from corporate political action committees," Charen added, "And they say character is a thing of the past! Of course, eschewing corporate PAC contributions is not the same thing as rejecting all corporate contributions. And Cruz gets more from the oil and gas, legal, and real-estate interests than from PACS."

The conservative columnist went on to say that Cruz is not alone in ginning up faux outrage at corporations in an effort to look like a man of the people and that far-right Republicans are finding a receptive -- and gullible -- audience for their new vision of "populism"

"When candidates beat the bushes for donations from small donors, they do it by ginning up outrage. It's been dubbed "fundraging." That's what Cruz is about. We're used to that from him. What is new is his inadvertent confession of florid, flagrant cynicism," she accused.

You can read more here.