Republican presidential contender and Texas Senator Ted Cruz visited the Bronx borough of New York City today (April 6), prompting criticism from local residents and officials—one of whom interrupted a campaign event.
"Ted Cruz has no business being in the Bronx!" shouted one man, Rodrigo "RodStarz" Venegas,* one half of the hip-hop duo Rebel Diaz. "We live in one of the poorest congressional districts in the country, and to receive this right-wing bigot is an insult to the whole community."
Venegas appears in a video tweeted by CNN’s Betsy Klein:
"Ted Cruz has no business being in the Bronx," protester says pic.twitter.com/j5TpnJfK7T
— Betsy Klein (@betsy_klein) April 6, 2016
He also speaks in a video from Reuters, published by the New York Daily News, speaking in Spanish and calling Cruz a "racist who represents the White supremacy" as he police escorted him out of the event. In the same video, which you can see below, Cruz exits a vehicle to shouts of, "This is an immigrant community!"
Venegas and his brother and Rebel Diaz partner Gonzalo "G1" Venegas were reporting for teleSur:
Bronx Borough president Ruben Diaz Jr.—whose father, New York Senator Ruben Diaz Sr., met with Cruz during his visit—called Cruz a "hypocrite" during a rally in support of Hillary Clinton. "My father is someone who has opened doors to meet with other candidates, and I hope that in his sit-down today with Ted Cruz that he and the ministers tell him how wrong and offensive he is," he added.
(H/t Raw Story, The Observer)
*Story has been updated since publication to include the names of Rebel Diaz members and their teleSur broadcast.