Sen. Ted Cruz and his wife were forced out of an upscale Italian restaurant in Washington D.C. Monday night, as protesters questioned him about whether he will vote in favor of Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh.
Cruz has been a supporter of Kavanaugh since his nomination and sits on the Senate Judiciary Committee. Since Kavanaugh’s Senate hearing, however, the judge has been accused of sexual misconduct by two women, sparking a movement against his nomination in the name of sexual assault survivors.
In a video posted on Twitter by “Smash Racism DC,” a self-identified anti-racism group, a woman questions Cruz while her peers chant “We believe survivors!”
“Senator, I have a right to know what your position is on Brett Kavanaugh,” says the woman, who identifies herself as a sexual assault survivor.
Cruz, attempting to sit down at a table with his wife, responds, “God Bless you m’am.”
Https://twitter.com/SmashRacismDC/status/1044408931169300481
As the chanting and questions continue, Cruz and his wife get up to leave. A second video shared by Smash Racism DC shows the two pushing through a chanting crowd. A restaurant employee leads them through a side exit; as the door shuts, the protesters cheer.
The group is then asked to leave. They head to the front door, continuing to shout “Vote ‘no’ on Kavanaugh!”
While Cruz has not publicly commented on the ordeal, his Democratic opponent in Texas’s senate election, Beto O’Rourke, condemned the protesters’ behavior. “The Cruz family should be treated with respect,” he tweeted.
Not right that Senator Cruz and his wife Heidi were surrounded and forced to leave a restaurant last night because of protesters. The Cruz family should be treated with respect.
— Beto O'Rourke (@BetoORourke) September 25, 2018
Cruz joins Secretary of Homeland Security Kirstjen Nielsen and Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell among the ranks of politicians who have been heckled into leaving their dinner early.
Smash Racism DC defended their actions on Twitter, saying their “interruption does not compare in scale to the interruptions [Cruz’s] actions as a Senator have had on millions of American lives.”
Https://twitter.com/SmashRacismDC/status/1044445597389017090
In one of its last messages on the matter, Smash Racism DC addressed “Ted Cruz, Bret Kavanaugh, Donald Trump” and others, saying “You are not safe. We will find you. We will expose you. We will take from you the peace you have taken from so many others.”