Ted Cruz's Defense of Donald Trump Raises Eyebrows

Texas Senator Ted Cruz has been criticized on social media after seeming to downplay Stormy Daniels' testimony in court Wednesday.

In an appearance on Fox News, Cruz said, "There is no person on planet Earth that believes Donald Trump has been celibate all his life." The remark sparked a reaction on X, formerly Twitter, with critics saying Trump isn't on trial over allegations that he slept with Daniels, an adult film star, but over claims that he falsified business finance records in relation to hush money paid to Daniels ahead of the 2016 presidential election.

Trump is being tried on 34 counts of falsifying business records related to claims he orchestrated the payment of $130,000 to Daniels in exchange for her silence about an alleged affair. The former president has pleaded not guilty to all charges and denies Daniels' claim that the pair had a sexual relationship in 2006.

During her testimony, Daniels repeated her claim that she had a sexual relationship with Trump and said she had "blacked out" in his room. Daniels went into considerable detail about what she said took place—leading the defense to call for a mistrial, which presiding Judge Juan Merchan rejected.

Cruz said on Fox News: "By the way, the testimony of Stormy Daniels that was salacious—that was the point of it! Listen there is no person on planet Earth that believes Donald Trump has been celibate all his life. That is not news.

"But they want to drag him through the gutter because this is a political smear job. It's not about the rule of law," he continued, adding, "It's tragic what's happening because the rule of law is important. It protects all of us. This is what banana republics do."

Newsweek has contacted Cruz's office for comment by email outside business hours.

In response to the senator's comments, Mark Jacob, a former editor at the Chicago Tribune, wrote on X, "Ted Cruz wants us to think the only two choices Trump had were being 'celibate all his life' or cheating on his wife with a porn star."

Ron Filipkowski, the editor-in-chief of MeidasTouch, a liberal media outlet, wrote on the platform: "I'm confused by this argument. He was married and his wife just gave birth. Is he arguing that sex with a porn actress then doesn't mean anything?"

Barron Trump, the former president's son with Melania Trump, was born on March 20, 2006.

Lawyer Bradley P. Moss added, "Wow, I don't think Ted Cruz believes Trump's denial about sleeping with Stormy Daniels while he was married to Melania."

The account @CryptidPolitics, which describes itself as supportive of Florida Governor Ron DeSantis, wrote: "Interesting. Ted Cruz does not dispute Stormy Daniels's account of affair with Trump, says he is sure that Trump has 'not been celibate' his entire life. Cruz has been reduced to defending Trump's legal woes. Pretty sad."

Writer Janice Hough, a self-described Democrat, said: "Note to Ted Cruz from Planet Earth. Trump is not on trial for adultery, though you would have impeached Bill Clinton over it. Donald is on trial for trying to buy and bury stories about his adultery to interfere with an election. Thank you for coming to MY Ted talk."