Texas Senator Ted Cruz is one of the few politicians willing to directly take on New York Representative Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, and it happened again on Thursday morning.

It began when Cruz released a statement about the riot at the Capitol early Thursday morning. Cruz once again made his position clear that the destruction that happened was a major criminal act and that the transition of power from Trump to Biden will be peaceful.

“The attack at the Capitol was a despicable act of terrorism and a shocking assault on our democratic system,” he tweeted while posting his full statement in images below. “We must come together and put this anger and division behind us. We must, and I am confident we will, have a peaceful and orderly transition of power.”

The attack at the Capitol was a despicable act of terrorism and a shocking assault on our democratic system. We must come together and put this anger and division behind us. We must, and I am confident we will, have a peaceful and orderly transition of power. My full statement: pic.twitter.com/84HHQdpMZd

— Senator Ted Cruz (@SenTedCruz) January 7, 2021

Cruz had already denounced the rioters previously.

(READ: Ted Cruz and Rand Paul Denounce Capitol Hill Rioters, Call for an End to the Chaos)

AOC, like any good social justice warrior, did not care that Cruz made his position on the events at the Capitol clear and used the opportunity to point the finger at him for the riot happening in the first place. In a tweet, she demanded Cruz take responsibility for the riot and resign along with Missouri Sen. Josh Hawley.

“Sen. Cruz, you must accept responsibility for how your craven, self-serving actions contributed to the deaths of four people yesterday,” tweeted AOC. “And how you fundraised off this riot. Both you and Senator Hawley must resign. If you do not, the Senate should move for your expulsion.”

Sen. Cruz, you must accept responsibility for how your craven, self-serving actions contributed to the deaths of four people yesterday. And how you fundraised off this riot.

Both you and Senator Hawley must resign. If you do not, the Senate should move for your expulsion. https://t.co/O2m6T59LYP

— Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (@AOC) January 7, 2021

Cruz didn’t take this lying down and came back down on AOC with a digital hammer.

“AOC, You are a liar,” tweeted Cruz. “Leading a debate in the Senate on ensuring election integrity is doing our jobs, and it’s in no way responsible for the despicable terrorists who attacked the Capitol yesterday.”

“And sorry, I ain’t going anywhere,” he continued. “When you and your socialist buddies try to massively raise taxes, when you try to pass the green new deal & destroy millions of jobs, when you push for amnesty, when you try to pack the Supreme Court w/ activists to undermine our Constitutional rights.”

“I will fight that every step & stand with the People,” he added.

2/2 …try to massively raise taxes, when you try to pass the green new deal & destroy millions of jobs, when you push for amnesty, when you try to pack the Supreme Court w/ activists to undermine our Constitutional rights…

I will fight that every step & stand with the People.

— Ted Cruz (@tedcruz) January 7, 2021

Cruz is correct. Blaming the riots on a legal process of objecting to the results of the election — a not at all uncommon occurrence — is sensationalizing opposition to their agenda. Saying that Cruz stoked those fires because he was part of the opposing side and wanted a debate is effectively making it so that debate itself is considered a resignation-worthy offense.

No matter what side of the aisle you fall on, that kind of thinking is inviting in a very dangerous way of thinking for a free society.

As it stands, Cruz is innocent of any wrongdoing and, in fact, encouraged the right thing to happen on two occasions. Once the debate was over he advocated for a peaceful transition of power and he denounced the destruction and rioting inside the Capitol building.

If anything, AOC is using the riot to push her own political pursuits.