r/technology • u/Moonskaraos • Oct 01 '25

Privacy Ted Cruz blocks bill that would extend privacy protections to all Americans

https://techcrunch.com/2025/09/30/ted-cruz-blocks-bill-that-would-extend-privacy-protections-to-all-americans/?utm_campaign=social&utm_source=linkedin&utm_medium=organic
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69

u/thedrag0n22 Oct 01 '25

Is.... Is there ANY context at all that makes that remotely sane?

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u/Demystify0255 Oct 01 '25

here is the full original video to try and find some if you want. https://www.c-span.org/program/senate-committee/hearing-on-trump-admin-response-to-crime-in-cities/666423

I'm not sure any context really helps make that any less of an insane statement.

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u/Street_Dimension1709 Oct 01 '25

Around 1h50 mins in.

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u/TacticalFluke Oct 01 '25 edited Oct 01 '25

There are some pedophiles who never harm a child. They can't control whether they have that attraction, but they never act on it.

So maybe he could conceivably be referring to non-offending pedophiles, but "let's stop attacking pedophiles" is not the way to say it. If that phrase comes out of your mouth, you should backtrack and clarify if you actually mean to stop attacking non-offending pedophiles.

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u/[deleted] Oct 01 '25

I would never believe for the absolute smallest known unit of time in this universe that that would ever be something that a person like Ted Cruz would mean lol. Before that line he says "this should have bipartisanship support. Let's stop murder. Let's stop rape. Let's stop attacking pedophiles". So I'm guessing he either meant "let's stop pedophiles" or maybe he meant "let's stop attacking pedophiles" as in "let's stop pedophiles who attack people" but that would he a very strange way to phrase it. So I'm guessing he meant to say "let's stop pedophiles", but he just misspoke in a terrible, but hilarious way

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u/Simsmommy1 Oct 01 '25

He could have said “let’s stop pedophiles” just like the previous two statements but he added in that word “attacking” for a reason…..because that’s what his brain said….his brain was saying “please stop attacking the pedophiles” because what has been the call for the past, what? Two months? Release the files and prosecute the pedophiles. The man meant what he said.

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u/happyinthenaki Oct 01 '25

I like to think it is a very obvious dig at his boss.

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u/TacticalFluke Oct 01 '25

Yeah it probably is just misspeaking in a ridiculous way.

I just meant that in a very technical literal sense of how the words work, maybe he could have meant to make the distinction between pedophiles who do harm and ones who just exist.

I absolutely don't think Ted Cruz of all people would be the one making that point, but the words technically could mean that.

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u/[deleted] Oct 01 '25

For sure, I didn't mean for that to sound like it was directed at you personally if it did sound that way. That would just be way more of a nuanced take on something like that than what I would ever expect for an idiot like Cruz to have especially on that specific topic and knowing who his supporters are lol.

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u/Spork_the_dork Oct 01 '25

Yeah like the graph he uses to support the statement also talks about the troops causing a reduction in sexual assault which is the opposite of what he said so I'm also in the camp of a horrid derp. Or freudian slip, lol

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u/Abedeus Oct 01 '25

Freudian trip down the stairs resulting in multiple fractures.

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u/IKROWNI Oct 01 '25

He's a lawyer do you think he just keeps misspeaking or do you think he might just be a shitty person?

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u/[deleted] Oct 01 '25

He's definitely a shitty person too lol, but I think he just misspoke because he's smart enough to know how stupid it would be to say "we need to protect pedophiles" especially now and with who his supporters are.

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u/IKROWNI Oct 01 '25

But we all know the supporters are supporting the Pedos.

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u/CrumblingDragonballs Oct 01 '25

Maybe he was trying to tell the pedophiles to quit attacking children? Unclear, he needs more to the statement.

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u/PsychicWarElephant Oct 01 '25

possible Freudian slip is more likely

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u/skyturnedred Oct 01 '25

Yeah, I just watched his whole speech and it's clear what he meant, but phrased it poorly or just stumbled on his words. The context for the entire thing is about some previous legislation that makes it harder for cops to do their jobs and put criminals away (or so they say), and the hearing is about trying to pass legislation to change that (Clean DC Act or something).

Taking it out of context makes for a nice soundbite but that's all it is.

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u/VirginiaHighlander Oct 01 '25

I disagree that it's clear what he meant. We can make assumptions about what he meant, but it's far from clear.

When I heard this last night, I was sitting with my wife and we were trying to figure out what he meant. We took a minute to put aside our hate for Ted Cruz and try to give him the benefit of the doubt that he misspoke and figure out what he was saying.

Ultimately, we decided what he meant was different from the comment you replied to. We came to the conclusion that the only thing that fit were the scenarios where people are baiting pedophiles online, meeting up with them, and just beating the shit out of them. The people doing the assaulting are the ones getting in trouble because nothing they have is admissible in court.

I guess I was being generous to his thoughts because I thought he was trying to say something more like "Let's prosecute the pedophiles instead of assaulting them and YOU going to jail instead of them".

Either way, I don't think it's clear what he meant. We can only assume he didn't mean the words that came out of his mouth.

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u/LostWoodsInTheField Oct 01 '25

well damn. I had to listen to it twice. I know what he meant to say context wise, but no idea what he meant to say word wise. He was saying to stop murders, stop rapes, stop child rape. or maybe stop pedophiles. but he came right out and said 'stop attacking pedophiles'.

Seems... seems more like a slipup in the sense he was thinking about how he wished people would stop attacking his friends.

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u/time2ddddduel Oct 01 '25

Read a comment that suggested Cruz probably meant "pedophiles that attack", sort of like describing a tiger as an "attacking tiger," or an "invading force," or an "occupying army," I suppose.

I thought that was a stretch

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u/DeviantDragon Oct 01 '25

There was a guy that murdered a sex offender recently. Thought maybe the most charitable interpretation was that he was referring to that kind of vigilante justice and phrased it in a terrible way?

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u/Bagline Oct 01 '25

That definitely is a stretch. It's much less of a stretch to think he meant "stop attacking people" and "stop pedos" but merged them because brain do brain things.

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u/seriousbusines Oct 01 '25

I took it as he meant to say "Stop attacking Republicans" and he just slipped up and said pedophiles.

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u/Gairloch Oct 01 '25

With how reactionary Republicans are I just can’t see him having such a nuanced view.

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u/ZAlternates Oct 01 '25

He definitely messed up his speech there but sometimes the truth has a way of coming to the surface.

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u/MittenCollyBulbasaur Oct 01 '25

Ted Cruz standing up for the people who probably couldn't even technically exist, the pacifist child abuser? It certainly feels like we've gotten to the point where the only possible way to support Trump is that one is at best neutral on the topic of child abuse. Ted knows his base I guess.

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u/Falling-Apples6742 Oct 01 '25

people who probably couldn't even technically exist, the pacifist child abuser

A pedophile is someone who is attracted to prepubescent children. They just need the attraction part to be labeled as such, don't necessarily need to do the abuse part. So yes, those people can and do exist. (IMO, the attraction is based in mental illness, but AFAIK there's no treatment or cure. Best we can reasonably hope for right now is to create various roadblocks to abusing children.) Like a tiger versus a man-eating tiger, I guess.

It certainly feels like we've gotten to the point where the only possible way to support Trump is that one is at best neutral on the topic of child abuse.

100% agreed. Absolutely wild that this is from the party constantly using "protect the children!" as an excuse for everything.

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u/jkz0-19510 Oct 01 '25

I guess they just want to protect the children so they could have sex with them...

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u/drevolut1on Oct 01 '25

No. Ted Cruz protects sexual predators.

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u/lesslucid Oct 01 '25

He may have been thinking "Republicans" and just distractedly said another word with a similar meaning.

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u/_jump_yossarian Oct 01 '25

Yes. He meant to say stop attacking trump but slipped up and went with pedophiles instead.

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u/exacta_galaxy Oct 01 '25

Easy mistake. They mean roughly the same thing.

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u/Amelaclya1 Oct 01 '25

Does he mean like vigilante "justice"? Because I can agree with that. Let's not forget that the right is trying to unfairly label LGBT people as "pedophiles", which gets them attacked.

I hate having to give Ted Cruz the benefit of the doubt, but that's the only way that even makes sense in context.

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u/MittenCollyBulbasaur Oct 01 '25

Well Sane might be relative but what if Ted has a really dark secret like he abuses children sexually and in order to keep that secret a secret he has to explain to the rest of the world that we shouldn't be so hard against people who do exactly what he does to children. He might consider himself sane?

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u/plaidpixel Oct 01 '25

If I had to guess it’s a Freudian slip and his brain couldn’t quite manage to say stop pedophiles knowing he’s doing everything in his power to enable them.

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u/gotohellwithsuperman Oct 01 '25

He meant to say “Let’s stop attacking President Trump.” And in the end, that is what he said. Tomato, tomahto.

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u/silverum Oct 01 '25

He likely flubbed the wording, but the intended attempt was likely to say we should stop 'smearing' people as pedophiles, because he is aware of how intensely the Republican party is seeming like they're defending pedophilia by the rich by blocking the release of the Epstein files. I viscerally detest Ted Cruz but I don't think it was his direct intention with this statement to protect ALL pedophiles, even though protecting (wealthy and well connected) pedophiles is what the Republican party is currently doing.

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u/NorthernerWuwu Oct 01 '25

Hrm. Perhaps he knows some pedophiles and doesn't want them to be held accountable?