Ted Cruz Dismisses New Kavanaugh Allegations, Urges Democrats to ‘Let the Anger Go’
Sen. Ted Cruz (R-TX) told George Stephanopoulos on Sunday that Democrats “need to let the anger go” over the confirmation of Brett Kavanaugh to the Supreme Court and understand that “the democratic process moves on.”
Cruz was responding to a story in The New York Times, adapted from a new book by reporters Robin Pogrebin and Kate Kelly, that explores in depth some of the allegations made against Kavanaugh during his confirmation hearing last year. The story focuses on Deborah Ramirez, one of Kavanaugh’s classmates at Yale, who claimed that during her freshman year, a drunk Kavanaugh shoved his penis in her face at a dorm party.
Ramirez tried to go public with her story a year ago and provided the FBI with a list of 25 witnesses who may have been able to back up her testimony. But the Senate Judiciary Committee did not call her to testify and the FBI only did a cursory investigation of the allegations made by Christine Blasey Ford while ignoring those of Ramirez and others.
Cruz first tried to claim the matter had been investigated as thoroughly as possible:
“The Judiciary Committee did what we should have done. We held the hearing, we invited the principal witness to testify. We heard it. The American people heard it and at the end of the day the American people made a judgment that the evidence wasn’t there, the corroboration wasn’t there.”
The American people made no such judgment. The Senate Republicans, who actually represent a minority of the population, made that judgment. Polling done after his confirmation showed a majority of the public was unhappy with Kavanaugh and supported further investigation into the allegations against him.
Cruz later restated his position that the “American people had a chance to look…Justice Kavanaugh in the eye and hear his explanation.” True. And again, they wanted more investigations.
Cruz then said:
“At the end of the day, this is The New York Times just being bitter-enders…I bet you the next Democratic debate, they’ll all be saying impeach Kavanaugh, impeach Trump. There’s nobody they don’t want to impeach and at some point they just have to let the anger go and recognize that the democratic process actually moves on and I think it’s time for them to do that.”
That everyone would just “move on” after the debate because there was no recourse was the bet the GOP made at the time, and it is likely to work for them in the long run. But by short-circuiting the investigation, they guaranteed that reporters will be digging into Kavanaugh’s past for a long time, and every once in awhile will turn up something that tears these old wounds open again.
Watch the video above, via ABC.
