#TBT: Ted Cruz’s Solution to the Flint Water Crisis
For Immediate Release: Jan. 28, 2016
During tonight’s debate, Bret Baier asked John Kasich about the Flint water crisis, which has left the nearly 100,000 residents of Flint, MI, without access to clean water since 2014. According to reports, as the citizens became victims of lead contamination, “adults [in Flint] started to lose clumps of their hair and children broke out in rashes.”
As a reminder, Ted Cruz’s response to the crisis was a stunning display of politics over policy: choosing to distribute water first not to the families most in need, but to sham “crisis pregnancy centers” --- religious non-profits geared toward tricking women into not having abortions.
Background:
Ted Cruz’s campaign distributed water in Flint, MI, but only to crisis pregnancy centers: “Cruz’s Michigan state director Wendy Lynn Day announced this week that the campaign had coordinated with anti-abortion group Flint Right to Life to collect water bottles to be distributed only to crisis pregnancy centers in the area. ‘The water is for expecting moms and moms of little ones.’” [Salon, 1/21/16]
Cruz’s water distribution in Flint to crisis pregnancy centers underscored Cruz’s “pro-life values”: “Volunteers for Texas Sen. Ted Cruz's Republican presidential campaign will be distributing water on Wednesday to residents of Flint, Michigan -- but apparently, only to anti-abortion groups. Those aid efforts will assist only a small portion of the Flint's approximately 100,000 residents, who have been suffering from lead poisoning and a lack of clean water since 2014, when the city decided to cut costs by switching its water supply. Day reportedly said the donations underscored Cruz's ‘pro-life values.’ Her Facebook post didn't mention whether the campaign will also donate water to children who are already suffering from lead poisoning, or to other city residents.” [Huffington Post, 1/25/16]