Ted Cruz has a really gross reaction to Apple CEO Tim Cook's coming out

Asked about Cook's announcement this morning, the Tea Party senator stayed true to anti-gay form

Published October 30, 2014 6:57PM (EDT)

  (AP/Jim Cole)
(AP/Jim Cole)

Texas senator and boastful homophobe Ted Cruz reacted to Apple CEO Tim Cook's announcement that he is gay by calling Cook's sexuality a "personal decision."

Asked about Cook's coming out on CNBC's Squawk Box, Cruz parroted the right-wing talking point that sexual orientation is a personal choice.

"Those are his personal choices. I’ll tell you, I love my iPhone," Cruz said.

"Listen, Tim Cook makes his personal decisions, and that is his life. My focus is on the constitutional question of who has the authority to make decisions," he continued.

Cruz, a potential 2016 presidential candidate, has established himself as one of the GOP's most strident opponents of LGBT equality. When the Supreme Court let stand a series of lower court rulings in favor of marriage equality earlier this month, the senator denounced the decision as "tragic and indefensible" and "judicial activism at its worst." Cruz has also inserted himself into controversies over "Duck Dynasty" star Phil Robertson's homophobic views and Houston's LGBT non-discrimination ordinance. The Tea Party favorite hasn't restricted his anti-gay advocacy to rhetorical bombast; earlier this year, he and Utah Sen. Mike Lee introduced a bill that would codify states' rights to ban marriage equality and to refuse to recognize same-sex nuptials performed in other states.


By Luke Brinker

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Anti-gay Cnbc Conservatives Gay Rights Lgbt Marriage Equality Social Conservatives Squawk Box Ted Cruz Tim Cook