Allred campaign ad uses Uvalde prayer vigil footage to attack Cruz

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Texas Rep. Colin Allred said it would've been 'better' if Second Amendment 'hadn't been written'

A resurfaced video from 2018 is making its rounds online of Texas Rep. Colin Allred, a Democrat running for Senate against GOP Senator Ted Cruz, saying it would've been 'better' if Second Amendment 'hadn't been written'. 

FIRST ON FOX: Texas Democrat Rep. Colin Allred is taking heat from Republicans for "stooping to outright lies" over his Senate campaign announcement attacking GOP Sen. Ted Cruz.

Fox News Digital has learned that Allred’s Senate campaign announcement last week used footage of the senator at a Uvalde school shooting prayer vigil to claim that Cruz hid in a supply closet on Jan. 6.

"And Ted Cruz? He cheered on the mob," Allred said in the ad. "Then hid in a supply closet when they stormed the Capitol."

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"But that’s Ted Cruz for you," he said. "All hat, no cattle."

The ad depicts Cruz entering into a door as Allred claims he hid in a supply closet during the 2021 Capitol riot. But the door shown was at a prayer vigil for the 19 kids and two teachers murdered at Robb Elementary School in Uvalde, Texas, last year.

Additionally, Allred’s claim of Cruz cheering on the Jan. 6 rioters used footage of the senator speaking at a Georgia Senate rally a few days prior to the Capitol riots.

In his 2022 book, "Justice Corrupted," Cruz recounted meeting with his GOP colleagues in a "back room" that he called "a supply closet with stacked chairs" to discuss their plan as they waited for the Capitol to be secured on Jan. 6.

"While we waited for the Capitol to be secured, I assembled our coalition in a back room (really, a supply closet with stacked chairs) to discuss what we should do next," Cruz said, according to Newsweek.

National Republican Senatorial Committee (NRSC) spokesperson Philip Letsou blasted Allred for "stooping to outright lies" early on in his campaign in a statement to Fox News Digital.

"We all know DC Democrats will stop at nothing to attack Sen. Cruz, but it’s still surprising that Colin Allred is stooping to outright lies and deception this early in his campaign."

Fox News Digital has learned that Democrat Texas Rep. Colin Allred’s Senate campaign announcement last week falsely claimed GOP Sen. Ted Cruz hid in a supply closet on Jan. 6 while using footage of the senator at the Uvalde school shooting prayer vigil to push his claim. (Eric Lee/Bloomberg via Getty Images)

A spokesperson for Allred's campaign told Fox News Digital that only "one person in this race sided with the violent mob and voted to overturn the results of the 2020 election, and that is Ted Cruz."

Allred hopped into the Lone Star Senate race last week, becoming the first Democrat to launch a campaign against Cruz.

The Texas Democrat’s campaign last week addressed the congressman’s comments from 2018, when he said he did not believe the Second Amendment should have been written in the first place.

"Within the confines of the accurately applied Second Amendment, we can do everything we want to do, as far as regulating weapons and all that," Allred said. "The Second Amendment does have, in the first sentence, in order to maintain a ‘well-regulated militia,’ and 'the right to keep and bear arms shall not be infringed.'"

"And it’s two ideas there. The recent trend has only been to focus on the right to bear arms instead of the well-regulated militia part," Allred continued in the video, which was first resurfaced by Breitbart. "So I just think we have to accurately apply it."

The Texas Democrat’s campaign last week addressed the congressman’s comments from 2018, when he said he did not believe the Second Amendment should have been written in the first place. (Emil Lippe/Getty Images)

"Would it be better if it had not been written? Of course. But there’s no chance that we’re going to repeal any of the Bill of Rights amendments," the Texas Democrat said.

Allred's campaign manager Paige Hutchinson previously told Fox News Digital: "Congressman Allred’s record on this is clear: He supports common-sense reforms and respects the rights of law-abiding gun owners."

"He proudly supported Senator [John] Cornyn’s bipartisan bill to keep guns out of the hands of dangerous people, which Ted Cruz voted against," Hutchinson said. "A highly edited clip from six years ago is not in any way an accurate reflection of Allred’s position."

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Allred voted for Texas GOP Sen. John Cornyn's Bipartisan Safer Communities Act that was signed into law last year and bolstered states' red flag laws, enhanced background checks for gun buyers under 21, added penalties for some gun criminals, and provided funding for a variety of health and mental health-related programs.

Cruz is running for his third term in Congress’ upper chamber.