WATCH: Ted Cruz Caught on Camera Tweeting About Dr. Pepper While Amy Klobuchar Drags Him Over Attempt to Overturn the Election
Texas Republican Senator Ted Cruz was caught on camera tweeting about his love of Diet Dr. Pepper while Minnesota Democratic Senator Amy Klobuchar was tearing him a new soda-hole over his attempt to overturn President Joe Biden’s victory in the 2020 presidential election.
At a Senate Rules Committee hearing on Tuesday, Sen. Cruz railed against S. 1, the For the People Act, and repeatedly made false claims that committee chair Klobuchar stepped in to correct.
During one such exchange, Sen. Klobuchar lit into Cruz over his participation in the effort to overturn the 2020 election as insurrectionists descended on the Capitol.
Klobuchar first cited the peaceful and successful electoral certification that then-Vice President Biden presided over in 2017, then told Cruz “Then let’s fast forward to the day of the insurrection, January 6th, when in fact you, Senator Cruz — not not all of your college here today, you — were contesting the electoral college. You were leading, one of the leaders, on the effort to say that the election results were not correct.”
“And so you wonder why we want to make sure that people have the right to vote, well it’s because of this kind of rhetoric and this kind of behavior and an insurrection of the Capitol and a former president that is still maintaining that he somehow won the election when we all know it was not true. And so that’s why when you ask why we are still interested in protecting our democracy from that day of January 6th on, I think that’s your answer,” Klobuchar said.
But as Klobuchar spoke, Cruz could be seen fiddling with his phone in a clip that wound up going viral.
Watch Sen. Ted Cruz (R-TX) swipe through his phone and completely ignore Sen. Amy Klobuchar (D-MN). pic.twitter.com/nxze52nOb0
— The Recount (@therecount) May 11, 2021
And shortly thereafter, The Recount checked Cruz’s Twitter feed at the time he was ignoring his colleague, and found that Cruz was tweeting about his affinity for Diet Dr. Pepper at that exact moment.
— Ted Cruz (@tedcruz) May 11, 2021
The Recount Twitter account made a note of the tweet.
Sen. Ted Cruz (R-TX) was tweeting at us while ignoring Sen. Amy Klobuchar (D-MN). pic.twitter.com/HMB9zV6YBd
— The Recount (@therecount) May 11, 2021
Cruz followed up by falsely claiming that Sen. Klobuchar was reading a statement while he was tweeting.
She’s still reading her statement…. https://t.co/4w6ThwbNWr
— Ted Cruz (@tedcruz) May 11, 2021
Cruz’s performance drew fierce reaction from critics with verified accounts, which appears to have been the point if Cruz’s tweets are any indication.
This fucking asshole.
Ted Cruz needs to go. https://t.co/zg46wZEv8H
— Holly Figueroa O’Reilly (@AynRandPaulRyan) May 11, 2021
Fun fact: If a Republican pays attention to a woman, they lose their Republican card. https://t.co/47LYtByXpK
— Chelsea Handler (@chelseahandler) May 11, 2021
Watch @tedcruz set an example for how his daughters can expect to be treated by loathsome male colleagues. Way to go, Ted. https://t.co/TgF7aJbjFh
— ken olin? (@kenolin1) May 11, 2021
I’m going to need somebody to Photoshop Amy Klobuchar throwing her purse at Ted Cruz’s head #TurdCruz https://t.co/zSVy0IWpth
— Tara Dublin Is Vaccinated (@taradublinrocks) May 12, 2021
Ted Cruz has been the asshole of the day more times then anyone since Trump got the boot. I can’t find an ounce of compassion for this garbage person. https://t.co/fUoWq4UY9p
— Pete Dominick (@PeteDominick) May 12, 2021
Ted is playing “Words with no friends.”#WolverPeen https://t.co/fg09QjUyud
— Steve Marmel (@Marmel) May 12, 2021
There were also some dissenters among the detractors:
Maybe he can multitask better than you? https://t.co/GEcuOwxZ2X
— Jenna Ellis (@JennaEllisEsq) May 12, 2021
@tedcruz actin like Democrat primary voters & completely ignoring Amy Klobukaren. https://t.co/qsXEvjIDct
— Michael Berry (@MichaelBerrySho) May 12, 2021
Watch the clip above via C-Span.