From left: Sens. Mazie Hirono, Ted Cruz and Jon Ossoff.Photo: Zach Gibson/Getty; Mark Wilson/Getty; Nathan Posner/Shutterstock
Texas Sen.Ted Cruzwas accused of “mansplaining” on Wednesday, as he was involved in another disruptive scene on Capitol Hill when he kept talking over Sens.Mazie HironoandJon Ossoff.
Ossoff, the Democratic freshman lawmaker from Georgia who was leading the Senate Judiciary Committee hearing on PresidentJoe Biden’s judicial nominees for the first time, tried to take control of the meeting as it went off the rails.
But his efforts were to little avail as Cruz, 50, and Hirono, 73, of Hawaii, snipped back-and-forth at one another during what was set to be a relatively routine hearing.
Their argument occurred as both senators questioned Biden’s judicial nominee, U.S. District Judge Gustavo Gelpi, who is being considered for a post on the First Circuit Court of Appeals.
“I’m very proud you have a gavel,” Cruz quipped at Ossoff.
“You know, this is a committee where we’ve had a little bit of comity,” Cruz said. “I recognize Sen. Ossoff is new, but we generally don’t have the chairman trying to jump in 30 seconds in.”
And that’s when Hirono jumped back into the mix, taking exception to Cruz behavior.
“I would ask that Sen. Cruz not mistake what I’m saying and, you know what, all this mansplaining,” she said. “Please stop.”
Sen. Ted Cruz.Jonathan Newton-Pool/Getty
Cruz argued that he wasn’t mischaracterizing anything Hirono said.
It’s not thefirst squabble— senatorial or otherwise — for Cruz.
But it’s not just Democrats: Former GOP Speaker of the House John Boehner told Cruz to “go f—” himself in the audiobook version of his recent memoir.
“There is nothing more dangerous than a reckless a—— who thinks he is smarter than everyone else,” Boehner wrote in the book. “Ladies and gentlemen, meet Senator Ted Cruz.”
source: people.com
