Ted Cruz recently held an event at Yale University as part of his “Verdict” podcast. The Texas senator fielded questions from the audience alongside The Daily Wire’s Michael Knowles and conservative commentator Liz Wheeler.
As per Dailymail, one, in particular, evoked a heated exchange, despite Cruz remaining as stoic as ever, even as he set the questioner on fire.
A student (or, I presume, she is one) questioned him about his questions to Ketanji Brown Jackson during her confirmation hearing. But it wasn’t the details that bothered her. Rather, she charged Cruz with asking “racist” questions and disrespecting the now-Supreme Court Justice.
When an exchange like this occurs, the first thing to notice is how vague the charge is. This woman claims that Cruz’s questions were racist, but she provides no examples. As someone who followed the Judge Jackson hearings, I have a good idea of what the Texas senator asked, and every single one of them was about her judicial record. If one is going to accuse another person of racism, shouldn’t they provide proof of the alleged racism?
It’s worth noting that he didn’t accuse her of gang rape or go through her yearbook to inquire about drinking games. Rather, he questioned her record on child pornography and her service on the board of a school that openly teaches Critical Race Theory. Given that the latter is a legal theory, it would seem highly relevant to learn whether Jackson intends to use it in her decision-making process.
Returning to Cruz’s response, he begins by pointing out the left’s blatant hypocrisy when it comes to protecting black candidates and nominees. If it was racist to question and vote against Jackson solely because she is black, why wasn’t it racist when Democrats did the same to Clarence Thomas? What about Janice Rogers Brown? Cruz then observes how casually the left throws around the accusation of racism, rarely providing evidence to back up their claims. Similarly, he points out that liberals did not think it was sexist when Democrats voted in perfect sync against Amy Coney Barrett.
Cruz is objectively correct on all counts. It’s ridiculous to suggest that Jackson’s mostly kid-glove treatment was somehow improper and racist, especially given how the previous three nomination battles played out. That double standard is no longer acceptable, and Republicans will not continue to let Democrats get away with it.
