Ted Cruz asked all sorts of incredibly embarrassing questions to
judge Ketanji Brown Jackson.
Who of course is undergoing these confirmation hearings as a Supreme Court
nominee.
And one of the things that he brought up in this manufactured
culture war circus was transgender rights.
And whether or not he has the right to identify differently.
He used a fascinating example.
Let's watch.
I'm a hispanic man.
Could I decide I was an Asian man, what would I have the ability to be an Asian
man and challenge Harvard's discrimination?
Because I made that decision.
>> Senator I'm not able to answer your question.
You're asking me about hypotheticals and.
>> I'm asking you how you would assess standing, if I came in and
said I have decided I identify as an Asian man.
>> I would assess standing the way I assess other legal issues, which is
to listen to the arguments made by the parties, consider the relevant precedents.
And the constitutional principles involved and make a determination.
>> Yeah, they make a mockery out of government.
They make a mockery out of the Supreme Court.
What is the point of having these hearings,
if you're going to be asking her questions that are super irrelevant to what she
would be doing as a Supreme Court Justice.
>> Exactly, yeah, look, I get that there are people who
don't understand what the experience of a trans person is like.
Partially because our society has pretended that it doesn't exist for so
long, partially because there's been so little representation in media.
It is difficult for people who haven't had that experience to understand it.
But it takes extra work to try to draw an equivalence with what have I thought that
I was Asian, what have I thought that I was rich?
Do you have to give me?
No, that's not actually how gender works.
Gender is a self expression.
Some of the other things that you jokingly use to attack and
alienate trans people are based on something else.
These are just not things you can compare to and I feel so terrible like there are,
he represents an entire state and not a small one.
How many trans people are there in Texas?
That have to see that is what their elected representative,
a powerful individual like Ted Cruz thinks about their life and their choices.
How many of them are diehard conservatives?
Like if you are in Texas and you're trans and you're conservative,
what are you supposed to do?
Because Ted Cruz is hardly the most xenophobic against your community.
He's playing ball.
And all of them are, by the way,
let's keep it real not because they really have anything against trans people.
I mean, I'm sure there's something to that their hateful people.
It's because for a very long time they were able to just attack gay people.
They loved it, they ran it, they made whole election's about it.
And society thankfully very slowly with lots of things weighing it down,
finally started to be a little bit more inclusive and they thought.
Well, that's not as popular the trans community though,
you can still get away with a lot when it comes to them.
It's the most cynical sort of politics.
>> It's so true.
It's all they focus on.
And it's a strategy that we've seen with the Republican Party for a long time.
Where their political bread and
butter is just hyper focused on the most powerless group.
That they can attack and get away with, right?
That they can fear monger about and get away with.
Remember, we see it in so many different contexts.
They use fear for their campaigning, right?
Fear of the others.
Fear of immigrants, fear of asylum seekers, fear of gay marriage,
fear of transgender people, fear of Iraq, fear of Afghanistan.
>> Fear of Muslims, fear of convoys, fear of whatever.
>> Whatever it is, they'll find something to attack, someone to attack,
a group of people to attack, that they have deemed powerless.
So they can fear monger about them and
focus all of their political campaigning on it.
For some reason, voters don't take a step back to understand the manipulation that's
taking place.
But more importantly, how, respecting these groups or
wanting to ensure that they have rights or wanting to protect their rights.
How does that in any way negatively impact their lives?
Like how would it negative.
That's the thing that I've never understood, right?
When it comes to the transgender community,
how exactly does it make your life in any way worse?
If you respect their gender identity.
If you treat them with respect,
if you treat them as humans should be treated as people should be treated.
>> In two ways.
So one is made up scenarios where they're going to assault you in bathrooms.
It doesn't actually exist, but
they've tried to make it something you should be terrified of.
And the other is if you have been told that you are better in a ton of ways,
not economically.
Because there's very little opportunity left in this country and
nobody's advocating for you.
But we've created other groups that you get to look down on.
If they have to respect this group, then they're no longer superior to it.
They have lost a feigned phony superiority that they become very accustomed to.
>> It's incredibly frustrating.
And the other thing that Ted Cruz just can't get enough of is
the anti-critical race theory narrative.
This is their rallying cry.
They're sticking to it.
And this is how laughable he looked during the hearings, let's watch.
>> Judge Jackson welcome Critical Race Theory.
Critical Race theory Marxist Marxist Critical race theory.
Critical Race theory.
Critical Race theory filled and overflowing with critical race theory.
Critical race theory and introduction, but how to be an antiracist, antiracist baby.
Babies are taught to be racist or antiracist.
The baby's confess when being racist, babies are racist.
Can we send white people back to Europe Critical Race Theory.
Child pornography, sexual predators, sex crime,
released sex offenders have sex offender statutes of sex offenders.
Sex in which sex offenders for sexual predators.
6300 sex offenders would be released to the public.
And we're talking about child pornography offenders who may not be pedophiles and
child pornography.
The child porn.
Child pornography, pedophiles.
Child pornography.
Child pornography, thank you Mr Chairman.
>> I recall Ted Cruz phone banking for
a guy who bragged on tape about grabbing women by the,
about grabbing them and kissing them without even asking.
So you want to talk about predators?
Let's talk about the guy, the former president who
had literally dozens of women accusing him of sexual misconduct.
Republican Party went real easy on that guy.
What about Roy Moore?
Roy Moore, who ran for a Senate seat I believe in the great state of Alabama.
What were the accusations against Roy Moore?
>> A lot of serial dating with little girls.
>> Pedophilia, right?
Molestation of underage girls.
Was Ted Cruz outspoken against Roy Moore.
>> Yeah, well, he couldn't he didn't have the time he's been on a campaign to
get people to get Matt Gates and Jim Jordan out of Congress obviously.
Because they have a big issue with this sort of thing.
>> Jacket off Jim.
>> Exactly, yeah, he just had such a problem with the fact that Jim Jordan
was unnecessary institutional protection for a child predator.
And he just served to stop justice in that case.
So yeah, no, he must have been too focused on that.
It's just it's all it's a disgusting joke is what it is.
>> And what have we seen from Democratic leadership?
Dick Durbin, who is the chair of the senate judiciary committee.
Listen why is he not shutting this down?
Cut the mic.
We have one more video that I wanna go to to make the point.
About how Democratic leadership has really failed in this regard real quick.
Let's watch that.
>> Just 6700 images.
You come in 57 minutes [CROSSTALK] 57 months in the Stuart case.
Do you wanna address that?
Because you're claiming it's cherry picking.
In fact you're welcome to explain any of these cases.
But let's take the Stuart case.
Why did you sentence him for half the amount?
>> You're not recognized senator.
>> You don't want her to answer that question?
>> You wouldn't allow her any.
>> Mr Chairman she may answer the question.
I've asked her why she sent in Stuart.
You gone over times Senator by two minutes.
>> Why she because you've interrupted me for two minutes Mr. Chairman.
Will you allow her to answer the question or do you not want the American people to
hear why with someone she described as an egregious.
>> Disappoint senator.
Where you get a little bit.
>> Chairman Durban will you allow her to answer the question?
You wanna allow her to and.
>> I will happily allow her to.
The question is why you sent Stewart an egregious child pornography
possessors to half of the amount requested by the prosecutor.
>> Please senator.
>> Will you allow her to answer the question chairman Durban?
>> Senator Cohens.
>> Why are you not allowing her to answer the question?
There's not another senator not allowed her to answer the question.
I'm not asking another question but
allow her to answer the question chairman Durban.
Why do you not want the American people to know what happened in the Stuart case or
any of these cases?
Chairman Durban, I've never seen,
the chairman refused to allow the witness to answer a question.
You can bang it as loud as you want.
>> I can just tell you at some point you have to follow the rules.
>> Okay, will you let her answer the question?
You've been interrupting and by the way with Senator Graham,
it went 10 minutes over.
You've taken a big chunk of the time.
Will you allow her to answer the question?
Why are you afraid of her?
She's welcome to answer it right now.
Will you let her?
Will you let so, no.
You don't want her to answer the question?
Will you let her answer the question?
>> Chairman Durban.
>> Apparently we're very afraid of the American people hearing the answer to
that question.
>> We here in the Senate in this committee today.
Are in the middle of a policy fight.
>> So you are breaking the rules.
I ask you kindly to please stop.
What are you doing is Dick Durbin asleep.
That's leadership.
That's leadership, allowing a clown like Cruz to steamroll
you like that to be as disrespectful of everyone's time.
But more importantly of Judge Jackson's time.
Like the lack of leadership among Democratic leadership is so
embarrassing, so flaccid, so impotent, so embarrassing.
I can't take it.
>> Yeah, 100%.
And and honestly, generally I don't find Cruz to be persuasive as speaker.
But I found what he was doing to be quite effective because I would have done
almost anything to stop him from talking.
Including asking to tangier Brown Jackson to withdraw the nomination if that's what
it takes to.
That's the most I've ever heard.
Ted Cruz speak in one go and I think I've had my fill for the rest of my life.
>> Imagine being stuck in a room with.
>> He is screechy voice.
He look and by the way like he's trying to pretend that he's got like the secret
thing that's gonna sink her candidacy.
All he's doing is alluding to the Josh Hawley Cunanan stuff.
But he's so like, he went over and
he's using that to pretend that he's asking devastating questions.
Make it end.