Sen. Ted Cruz, R-Texas, accused his Senate opponent, Democratic candidate Rep. Colin Allred of Texas, of being financially backed by the same powerful families who are supporting the anti-Israel and antisemitic demonstrations at universities across the country.
Between April 18 and May 3, police either arrested or detained more than 2,200 people on at least 49 college campuses during protests in 26 different states.
“Those protests are being funded by Joe Biden and the Democrats’ top donors,” Cruz told Fox News Digital in an interview, saying Allred’s donors — the Soros, Rockefeller, Pritzker, and Gates families — had also been either in the past or presently connected to organizations that are supporting the demonstrations against Israel.
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Sen. Ted Cruz, right, will face off against Colin Allred for his Senate seat in November. (Getty Images)
“They’re being funded by George Soros and the Rockefeller brothers and Bill and Melinda Gates and the Pritzkers,” he claimed.
Cruz continued, “Those folks are not just Joe Biden’s top donors. They’re among Colin Allred’s top donors.”
“Colin Allred has accepted $80,000 from those donors that are funding the anti-Israel, antisemitic protests on college campuses,” the Texas senator said.
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George Soros’ organization said it does not exercise control over the smaller groups it funds. (Getty Images)
Including both his congressional and Senate campaigns, associated committees and All In PAC, the four families have provided just under $80,000 to Allred’s electoral efforts, as Cruz claimed.
Open Society, which was founded by Democratic megadonor George Soros and is chaired by his son Alexander Soros, said in a statement that they “fund an array of non-profit civil society groups across the United States that advocate for a fairer world.”
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A large group of masked students attends a rally at the University of Chicago’s anti-Israel encampment. (Joseph A. Wulfsohn/Fox News Digital)
“The vast majority of these groups have no involvement with protests of any kind. Others may seek to articulate and amplify dissenting voices through, for example, petitions, meetings, and peaceful public protests,” a spokesperson said. George Soros himself did not provide comment to Fox News Digital.
Nicholas and Susan Pritzker’s Libra Foundation also funds smaller social justice organizations, several of which are understood to be involved in pro-Palestinian demonstrations, Politico recently reported.
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Sen. Ted Cruz’s Democratic challenger, Colin Allred, pictured here, did not respond to Fox News Digital. (Emil Lippe/Getty Images)
The Rockefeller Brothers Fund has awarded the organization Jewish Voice for Peace hundreds of thousands of dollars in grants over the last several years, a group that has staged its own anti-Israel demonstrations and explicitly considers itself to be “anti-Zionist.”
The fund was founded by the famous Rockefeller family, and its members remain involved in the organization.
The Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation has given the controversial Tides Foundation and Tides Center millions of dollars over the last few years, with the most recent grant to the Tides Center being awarded in November and amounting to $616,409.
Tides is understood to support several anti-Israel organizations with a large presence at the cross-country university demonstrations.
Both the Tides Foundation and Tides Center are Tides entities and affiliates. The foundation is mostly focused on philanthropic work, while the center “supports social change leaders, connects diverse people and organizations, and powers solutions that come directly from communities historically denied power, including women, economically disadvantaged communities, and communities of color.”
The Gates’ foundation told Fox News Digital that it does not have any grants that are active with the Tides Foundation anymore and denied funding the demonstrations either directly or indirectly.
The foundation told Fox News Digital that grants to the Tides Center were still active but noted that they are related to education. A spokesperson claimed they do not either directly or indirectly fund the demonstrations.
Allred’s campaign, the Pritzkers’ Libra Foundation and the Rockefeller Brothers Fund did not provide comment to Fox News Digital.
“Colin has a choice. Will he stand with the people of Israel and send the money back or will he keep the money?” asked Cruz.
“It’s sad what’s happened to the Democrat Party, but Colin Allred has an opportunity to make a choice and to decide which side he stands on,” he added.
Julia Johnson is a politics writer for Fox News Digital and Fox Business, leading coverage of the U.S. Senate. She was previously a politics reporter at the Washington Examiner.
Follow Julia’s reporting on X at @JuliaaJohnson_ and send tips to [email protected].
