Ted Cruz on Sunday said that Ahmed Mohamed, the MacArthur High School freshman arrested for bringing a homemade digital clock to school, was being used as a tool by President Barack Obama to “divide” the country.
“President Obama, at every stage, tries to politicize what happens, whether it is this teenager here in Texas, whether it is the shootings we saw in the Pacific Northwest,” Cruz said before participating in a presidential forum in Plano. “Over and over again, sadly, he seeks to try to divide us, to try to tear us apart. The president really ought to be looking for ways to bring us together, to unify us.”
On Saturday Ahmed was featured at a Council on American-Islamic Relations gala in Arlington, Va., across the Potomac River from the capital. And on Mondayhe’s expected to visit the White House as a special guest of the president.
At the second White House Astronomy Night, Ahmed will have a chance to rub elbows with NASA scientists and astronauts.
Participants will “learn about astronomical discoveries and participate in space-related educational activities to help promote the importance of STEM education and inspire the next generation of scientists and engineers who will explore the stars,” the White House said.
Ahmed was arrested Sept. 14 after an English teacher confiscated his device, which school officials and police initially described as a “hoax bomb.” He was handcuffed, taken to a juvenile detention center, questioned, and released later that day. Two days later, Irving authorities announced they were convinced the device was, in fact, a harmless experiment, as Ahmed had insisted.
Shortly after that announcement, President Barack Obama invited Ahmed to the White House to show off his “cool clock.” Ahmed readily accepted.
But Cruz, Texas’ junior senator and a contender for the Republican nomination for president, says Obama has other motives in inviting Ahmed to the White House.
He then implied that the president didn’t give law enforcement officials the same respect he’s giving the Irving teen, including slain Harris County Deputy Sheriff Darren H. Goforth.
Goforth was murdered August 28 when a gunman came up behind him at a gas station and shot him in the back. He was in his uniform at the time of the shooting.
Cruz said he attended Goforth’s funeral and was moved by the eulogy.
“Rather strikingly, the president was nowhere to be found,” Cruz said.
Cruz then said Obama often seeks to divide people by race and other issues.
“The American people are looking for a president that seeks to bring us together rather than constantly pitting us against each other,” he said. “We should come together as one people with shared values.”