McCain mocked Cruz after the Texas senator claimed he had lobbied McCain to let U.S. troops carry their personal firearms around military installations.McCain, the Arizona Republican who chairs the Senate Armed Services Committee, said he had never heard from the 2016 presidential hopeful or his staff about the controversial topic.
“You know, I was fascinated to hear that because I haven’t heard a thing about it from him. Nor has my staff heard from his staff,” a jovial McCain told reporters late Monday. “Where did that come from? I have not a clue.”
...The Arizona lawmaker enraged some conservatives shortly thereafter when he called Paul and Cruz “wacko birds.”
Cruz told a group of gun-owners at an event in New Hampshire that he had been “pressing” McCain for hearings to look into allowing troops to carry private firearms on military installations.
A feisty McCain laughed off the assertion when lawmakers returned to Capitol Hill on Monday.
“Maybe it was through some medium that I’m not familiar with. Maybe bouncing it off the ozone layer, for all I know,” he joked about Cruz’s alleged “pressing,” as if delivering a comic routine.
“There’s a lot of holes in the ozone layer, so maybe it wasn’t the ozone layer that he bounced it off of. Maybe it was through hand telegraph, maybe sign language. Who knows?” he said smiling, eventually bending over with laughter.
"A prominent aide to George W. Bush's 2000 campaign could barely contain himself when we asked him to discuss Cruz, who worked in the campaign's policy shop. This person described Cruz as hyper-arrogant and widely despised, and he emphasized—over and over—that the pervasive dislike of Cruz within the Bush ranks had nothing to do with ideology. ..The problem was simple: his personality.""Ted thought he was an expert on everything," says this campaign veteran..."He was a policy guy, but he would push his ideas on campaign strategy. He would send memos on everything to everyone. He would come to meetings where he wasn't invited—and wasn't wanted." In fact, this Bush alum recalls, "the quickest way for a meeting to end would be for Ted to come in. People would want out of that meeting. People wouldn't go to a meeting if they knew he would be there. It was his inability to be part of the team. That's exactly what he was: a big asshole."