Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Texas) on Thursday called President Obama “lawless and faithless,” blasting his decision to skip the late Justice Anontin Scalia’s funeral.
“We’ve got 11 more months of watching damage to this country from a lawless and faithless president, who is eager to travel to Cuba but unwilling even to show up at the funeral of Justice Scalia,” Cruz said in South Carolina, where he’s campaigning ahead of Saturday’s Republican primary.
{mosads}Obama will pay his respects on Friday at the Supreme Court, where Scalia’s body will lie in repose. But Obama will not attend the funeral Saturday at the Basilica of the National Shrine.
Scalia died Satuday unexpectedly.
The White House has defended his decision, noting that Vice President Biden, a Roman Catholic, will attend the funeral.
It’s not the first time Obama’s Christian faith has been the target of Republicans looking to pick up evangelical support in South Carolina.
Donald Trump earlier this month suggested Obama felt “comfortable” while visiting a mosque in Baltimore. The billionaire businessman also claimed the president apologized to Muslims during the visit.
Cruz said in September that he wouldn’t “speculate on the president’s faith” after Trump failed to correct a man at a rally who described the president as Muslim.
On Thursday, Trump also criticized Pope Francis, after the pontiff criticized his proposal to build a wall on the U.S.-Mexico border.