Pat Benatar Responds To Senator Ted Cruz’s Diss

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Pat Benatar
Photo Credit: "pat benatar and spider" by Jessie Pearl is licensed under CC BY 2.0. To view a copy of this license, visit https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.0/?ref=openverse.

Rocker Pat Benetar hit Republican Texas Senator Ted Cruz with her best shot after he seemingly called her music Satanic.

In an interview with conservative talk show host Joe Pagliarulo, Cruz was asked if he could imagine a scenario that President Joe Biden was impeached and convicted in a supermajority vote by the Senate.

“I don’t think Senate Democrats, if you had video of Joe Biden murdering children dressed as the devil under a full moon while singing Pat Benatar, they still wouldn’t vote to convict,” he remarked.

“That’s nuts, Ted what is that?” Pagliarulo chucked in reply.

Cruz’s comment was seemingly a shot at the Rock & Roll Hall of Famer’s 1980 smash hit “Hell Is For Children.”

Confusingly, the song is actually about the horrors of child abuse, which Benatar said was inspired by a New York Times article that highlighted the issue.

“I remember the overwhelming sadness and anger I felt that day,” Benatar said about the song’s inception. “Our bass player, Roger Capps, was also really moved by the article, and we immediately started writing lyrics.”

“We showed them to Neil (Giraldo), and he thought they were very powerful and he began working on the chord changes and the rhythm of the song.”

“He tried to capture the anguish and pain of a small child being hurt by someone they loved and trusted,” she commented. “I think he did it beautifully.”

The song was never released as a single, because child abuse was a controversial subject at the time.

However, she and (her husband) Giraldo created a children’s protection fund with the song’s publishing royalties, and still plays it at every show.

Benatar and Giraldo responded to Cruz with a two word Facebook post on Thursday.

“Nice try,” the wrote on their shared account.

According to Variety, Benatar’s PR rep said that she would not make any further statements on Cruz’s commentary.

Cruz also declined to respond to requests for further comment, however he did make his distaste for Rock and Roll clear in a 2015 interview.

“My music taste changed… I actually intellectually find this very curious, but on 9/11, I didn’t like how rock music responded,” he remarked at the time.
“And country music, collectively, the way they responded, it resonated with me.”

“I had an emotional reaction that said, ‘These are my people.’ So ever since 2001, I listen to country music,” Cruz noted.

Benatar’s fans were furious that Cruz lashed out at the “You Better Run” singer.

“We seriously need to kick Ted Cruz out of Gen X for that Pat Benatar s**t,” a Twitter user posted.
“Obviously, the funniest part is that, in a spontaneous moment, the most sinister and satanic rock & roller Ted Cruz could think of was Pat Benatar,” added journalist Jay Michaelson.
“Pat Benatar and Sen. Ted Cruz? One has timeless great hits,” someone noted. “The other is a timeless great twit.”
“Speaking disrespectfully of Pat Benatar is one step too far Ted Cruz! You sir, have lost my vote,” a fan tweeted.
“Blasphemy. Pat Benatar is a musical legend,” another replied. “Keep her name out of your mouth Ted.”
“There’s only one way to settle this,” someone suggested. “Ted Cruz has to do a dance off with Pat Benatar.”

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