Asmongold Response To Ted Cruz

Asmongold received a link to a video of Texas Senator Ted Cruz’s podcast during the stream. He was taken aback by Senator Cruz’s response to a query regarding a suggestion the streamer had made to his office.

The issue at hand concerned how loot boxes and other in-game microtransactions should be handled. As conservative political analyst and podcast co-host Michael Knowles read out his name and question to the senator, he was in shock. 

Since the Twitch streamer lives in Texas, Senator Ted Cruz of the Republican Party can claim him as his constituent. In regards to loot boxes in video games, he contacted Senator Cruz’s office and argued for stronger laws on them. On the senator’s podcast Verdict with Ted Cruz, a fan of the streamer asked the streamer’s perspective on the matter. The streamer couldn’t help but laugh as podcast co-host Michael Knowles read aloud the question, amazed that it had actually reached Senator Cruz. 

Senator Cruz asserted that he was knowledgeable about the subject of loot boxes in video games and that, in his opinion, the problem is analogous to a type of gambling that is marketed to children. He claimed to be a moderate gamer himself and to be familiar with loot boxes and microtransactions. The Republican senator further said that while he doesn’t like loot boxes and pay-to-win video game mechanics, he will occasionally buy them. “I don’t like it when you can buy in-game items and make your character stronger or get advantages. Now I’ll confess when I play some games, I’ll sometimes buy it because it is more fun if your character suddenly has a lot more great stuff that would take six months or a year to build up.” 

He went on to note that youngsters who play these games have the ability to use their parents’ credit cards to make significant purchases with money they don’t have, which adds to the complexity of the matter. His final statement on the subject was that he didn’t think the federal government should regulate it but was willing to talk to Asmongold about it. 

After listening to the audio episode, Asmongold expressed surprise at how educated Senator Cruz was about loot boxes and the fact that he plays video games. He claimed that he contacted Cruz in the hopes that, given his social media presence and the fact that he has children, Cruz could be aware of the issue. He didn’t anticipate the senator to have personal knowledge with microtransactions.