Ted Cruz Erupts at Senate Hearing After Accusation of ‘Mansplaining’

Senator Ted Cruz (R-TX) fought with Democratic colleagues Mazie Hirono (HI) and Jon Ossoff (GA) after he being accused of “mansplaining” judicial originalism.

The dustup occurred during a Senate Judiciary Committee hearing on Wednesday where District Court Judge Gustavo Gelpí was being questioned over his nomination to the 1st Circuit Court of Appeals by President Joe Biden. As Cruz questioned Gelpí over his judicial approach and his opinion on several prominent Supreme Court cases, he claimed Hirono was defending him because “you refuse to commit to originalism because originalism would prevent outcomes that she supports.”

Originalism is the legal philosophy arguing that the U.S. Constitution should be understood by its public meaning at the time it became law, as opposed to the idea of a living Constitution. When Cruz asked if Gelpí will not follow the original understanding of the Constitution, Gelpí said he would follow originalism in cases where he deems it appropriate.

Cruz attempted to ask a follow-up question, but Ossoff, who was chairing the hearing, interjected to remind him his time was up. Cruz got visibly frustrated and shot back “we generally don’t have the chairman trying to jump in thirty seconds in and I recognize the chairman does not want these questions answered.”

The chaos continued to unfold until Hirono was granted permission to respond to Cruz.

“I would request that Senator Cruz not misstate what I’m saying,” Hirono said. “And you know what? All this mansplaining — please stop. Thank you.”

Cruz asked Hirono what he mischaracterized from her, and he took issue with Ossoff again for pounding the gavel. Cruz eventually got to complete his question to Hirono, and she responded “the thing with my colleague is he always has to get the last word and that is a fact.”

“I do not object to originalism as applied because it results in decisions that I don’t agree with,” Hirono said. “I disagree with the way that the Court proceeded in some of the members of the court and how they proceed with originalism to get to the results that they want. So, that’s it.”

Watch above (start at 1:38:00), via Forbes.

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