Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Texas) has naturally been watching the game of back and forth between Rep. Nancy Pelosi (D-Californistan) and President Donald Trump with great interest, but he has some insight as to why Pelosi would be so bold as to pull out all the stops to delay or even stop the SOTU address.

The short answer? Cruz highlighted the fact that Pelosi is “terrified” of her own party which is becoming radically leftist every day that goes by, and if Trump can get his message out to the people in one of the most televised moments the President gets, she may have a better chance of appeasing her radicalized base.

The long answer? I’ll let Cruz himself explain it.

Listen, if you’re Nancy Pelosi it makes a lot of sense. Nancy Pelosi is terrified, number one, of her extreme left-wing base; she is captive of that; and number two, the position of Congressional Democrats in this shutdown is objectively unreasonable. In 2013, Chuck Schumer and every Senate Democrat voted in favor of 350 miles of border wall. They have right now shut the government down to stop 234 miles of border wall. I don’t know how you explain that you voted in favor of 350 miles but you shut the government down to stop 234 miles. That is incoherent.

The honest answer: It’s not a substantive disagreement; it’s that they’re terrified of their extreme left wing, who hates Trump. And that’s why we’re having a shutdown. So why does Nancy Pelosi not want the State of the Union? Because the State of the Union is an enormous platform for the president to speak directly to the American people, and she doesn’t want people focusing on the substance of this issue. She wants their information to come from the mainstream media rather than the president.

Listen, it’s the same reason, You remember, back right before the shutdown, when the president met with Pelosi and Schumer in the Oval Office and it was a remarkable meeting. I thought the funniest and most revealing moment was when Pelosi said multiple times, “Please, can we turn the cameras off? Can we get the reports out of here” She didn’t want people to see then that their position was objectively unreasonable. The president has said he’s willing to compromise; he’s willing to negotiate but we need to secure the border. The president’s right on that. Their position is not defensible so of course she’s trying to hide from the cameras and I don’t think we should let her.

Right now, Pelosi and Trump are involved in a back and forth, with Pelosi closing off the House to Trump to deliver his SOTU address. Trump struck back by denying Pelosi the use of taxpayer-funded, military travel, as my colleague Strieff described:

In one letter, delivered by tweet, President Trump let her know that her ability to jet around the world, scaring children and disturbing livestock, is contingent upon him letting her do that. He reminded her that the USAF responds to his orders. He also reminded the American public that Pelosi was being deliberately derelict in her responsibility because while she was enjoying five-star accommodations, on Uncle Sugar’s dime, the shut down could not end. And he reminded her that she is not the boss. She’s not even the deputy boss.

(h/t: DailyWire)