Cruz dubbed a ‘weaselly coward’ for grovelling apology to Tucker Carlson over Jan 6

Senator Ted Cruz tried to explain away remarks he made a day earlier by issuing a grovelling apology on Tucker Carlson’s Fox News program – but the host did not let him off the hook easily and the Texas Republican was lambasted on Twitter.

Mr Cruz had on Wednesday called the storming of the Capitol last 6 January “a violent terrorist attack” and Mr Carlson publicly took him to task for the word choice.

The Texan claimed on Fox on Thursday that he was referring to those who assaulted police officers during the chaotic incident and insisted he’d for years used the word “terrorist” to describe anyone who’d attacked cops.