Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Texas) claimed on Tuesday in an impassioned speech during the first day of the Brett Kavanaugh hearings that Democrats obstructing the high court nominee have one overriding motivation: avenging Hillary Clinton’s 2016 election loss.
In his speech before the Judiciary Committee, Cruz exposed the motivations behind the protests of the Kavanaugh hearings by both citizens and Democratic senators, calling the antics in the hearing room “an attempt to distract and delay,” and labeling disruptions “a joke.”
Related: After Outrageous Interruptions, Kavanaugh Delivers an Impassioned Speech
A number of Democratic senators quickly interrupted Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Chuck Grassley’s opening statement at Tuesday’s confirmation hearing, and objected to having “just” received 42,000 documents relating to Kavanaugh’s work with past administrations, among other protestations.
“So what is this fight about?” Cruz asked. “If it’s not about documents or Judge Kavanaugh’s credentials or judicial record, what is this fight about? I believe this fight is nothing more and nothing less than an attempt by colleagues to relitigate the 2016 presidential election.”
Cruz said that Americans, in fact, voted to replace Antonin Scalia on the court during the 2016 election.
“Donald Trump and Hillary Clinton were both clear about what kind of justices and judges they would appoint,” Cruz said. “Secretary Clinton’s answer was clear. She wanted a justice who would be a liberal progressive willing to rewrite the Constitution. Willing to impose liberal policy agendas that she could not get through the democratic process and the Congress of the United States would not adopt — that she hoped five unelected lawyers would force on the American people. That’s what Hillary Clinton promised for her nominees.”
Cruz said that Trump openly vowed to elect constitutional originalists.
“The American people made a choice that night,” Cruz said. “My Democratic colleagues are not happy with the choice the American people made, but as President Obama said, elections have consequences.”
“The Democratic obstruction is all about trying to reverse the election,” Cruz said. “Our colleagues want justices who will rubber-stamp efforts like the Obama administration’s efforts litigating against the Little Sisters of the Poor. Litigating against Catholic nuns trying to force them to a pay for abortion-inducing drugs and others. That is a radical and extreme proposition.”
Related: Here Are Five Ways Democrats Now Will Try to Block Kavanaugh
Cruz said Democrats want to do what Hillary Clinton promised — “effectively erase the Second Amendment from the Bill of Rights — it is what Hillary Clinton promised they would do and, at the end of the day, what this fight is about.”
“We know that every Democratic member of this committee is going to vote ‘no,” Cruz said. “We don’t have to speculate. They publicly announced they are voting ‘no.’ Doesn’t depend on what they read in documents and what Judge Kavanaugh says in this hearing.”
“We had an opportunity for the American people to speak and they did. They voted in 2016, and they wanted judges and justices who will be faithful to the Constitution.”
Cruz concluded, “It is about Democratic senators trying to relitigate the 2016 election and, just as importantly, working to begin litigating the 2020 presidential election. We had an opportunity for the American people to speak and they did. They voted in 2016, and they wanted judges and justices who will be faithful to the Constitution.”
See Cruz’s impassioned remarks in the video below.
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