'Emasculation and humiliation': Steve Schmidt shreds Ted Cruz's groveling Fox News appearance

Sen. Ted Cruz (R-TX) on Thursday appeared on Tucker Carlson's show and issued a groveling apology for describing the rioters who stormed the United States Capitol as "terrorists" earlier in the week.

"The way I phrased things yesterday, it was sloppy and it was, frankly, dumb," said Cruz, who came under heavy criticism from Carlson for purportedly smearing Trump supporters with the phrase.

Former Republican strategist Steve Schmidt was quick to pounce on Cruz's performance, which he called just the latest in a long string of embarrassments for the one-time presidential contender.

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"Ted Cruz groveling for favor between twitches as he absorbs the emasculating lecture from 2024 contender Tucker Carlson is a depraved spectacle that affirms the old proverbs about cowards tasting a thousand deaths," Schmidt writes on Twitter. "'When a coward sees a man he can beat he becomes hungry for a fight' is an old African proverb. Perhaps if Ted knew it he wouldn’t have so misjudged Tucker. Emasculation and humiliation seem to lurk like Nag and Nagina around Ted’s ambition."