https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/politics/rep-eric-swalwell-says-cruz-and-gaetz-are-like-wwe-wrestlers-and-behind-closed-doors-cruz-told-him-he-was-doing-a-great-job-as-an-impeachment-manager/ar-AAMojYJ?ocid=msedgntp

Rep. Eric Swalwell says Cruz and Gaetz are like WWE wrestlers and behind closed doors Cruz told him he was doing a great job as an impeachment manager

Rep. Eric Swalwell said several GOP lawmakers were acting for their fans, as in pro wrestling.

He said that if one were to meet these people in person, they would seem like "nice guys."

He also said Sen. Ted Cruz once praised him as doing a "great job" as an impeachment manager.

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Democratic Rep. Eric Swalwell of California likened several outspoken GOP lawmakers - namely Rep. Matt Gaetz, Sen. Ted Cruz, and Rep. Jim Jordan - to professional wrestlers, saying they were simply putting on an act on social media and television.

Speaking with the anti-Trump group MeidasTouch in a podcast released Tuesday, Swalwell said many of his colleagues were "better suited to work at the WWE" and were trying to give viewers "what they think the fans want."

He said he had worked with Gaetz before the rise of Trumpism in the US and observed that Gaetz would turn into a character and "laugh at himself about how stupid he had to act to keep the act going."

"And that's what's so frustrating. And this may sound crazy, but if you ran into Matt Gaetz or Ted Cruz or Jim Jordan at the Santa Monica Pier, you would say: 'These are nice guys! Boy, they're nothing like what I see them do on Twitter or TV,'" he said.

Swalwell then said Sen. Ted Cruz had praised him as "doing a great job" as an impeachment manager when the two bumped into each other in the bathroom during former President Donald Trump's second impeachment trial.

"And I'm like what the f— is this guy talking about? He just scorched me on Fox News, like, the night before. He tweets at me every other week," said Swalwell, a vocal critic of Trump.

"But to him, if you're a pro wrestler, like, it doesn't matter that you hit me over the head in the ring with a steel chair," Swalwell continued. "It's all fake, right? You're just doing what the fans want, so I should just be cool with it because he projects onto me what he does."

"He thinks that I'm just performing as well," he added. "And that's what's most sickening, is that I don't even know what these guys believe. Like, I really don't."