Rep. Colin Allred gave an emotional firsthand account of the Jan. 6 riot as he experienced it from the House chamber at Tuesday’s Texas Senate debate, adding that his opponent, Sen. Ted Cruz, was responsible for the mobs. Cruz tried to laugh it off.
“You can’t be for the mob on Jan. 6, and for the officers. You can’t,” Allred said. “And it’s not funny, because you’re a threat to democracy.”
Allred’s telling of the insurrection came in the broader context of Democrats campaigning on Jan. 6 to win over voters who are not Democrats. To make that case, they’ve relied on high-profile Republican figures like former Rep. Liz Cheney, who endorsed Vice President Kamala Harris in the presidential race as well as Allred’s campaign. Allred, who is running in a state where he would have to appeal to many Republican and independent voters to stand a chance, made sure to highlight Cheney’s endorsement.