Republicans fumed on Tuesday night after Democrats quickly lined up in opposition to Donald Trump’s Supreme Court pick, Neil Gorsuch – a right-wing extremist who has consistently fought to restrict women’s rights.
One GOP senator’s reaction was particularly rich, given his own history of “unprecedented partisan obstruction.”
Video:
Sen. Ted Cruz: “The Democrats are engaged right now in unprecedented partisan obstruction” https://t.co/UYpqI3w42L https://t.co/rNBruSGDF9
To get more stories like this, subscribe to our newsletter The Daily.
— CNN (@CNN) February 1, 2017
Texas Sen. Ted Cruz said:
There is no doubt that the Democrats are engaged right now in unprecedented partisan obstruction, but I hope on the Supreme Court they will not engage in that practice … What I can tell you is the Democrats will not succeed in filibustering Judge Gorsuch. They may try, but they will not succeed. The Senate will confirm a strong constitutionalist to replace Justice Scalia.
There are two major reasons this is laughable:
1. Republicans, including Cruz, spent nearly the entirety of 2016 blocking President Obama’s middle-of-the-road Supreme Court appointee, Merrick Garland. Did the Texas senator just suddenly start to believe that Supreme Court nominees should rise above partisan politics? Too late for that, Ted.
2. Sen. Cruz – the guy who just slammed Democrats for “unprecedented partisan obstruction” – is the same fella who shut down the government in 2013 in an effort to defund and derail the Affordable Care Act. Cruz spent 21 hours rambling on the Senate floor and treating us all to a creepy reading of “Green Eggs and Ham,” all so he could take health insurance away from millions of Americans.
Now, when Democrats decide to stand up to an incompetent president after he picked a right-wing ideologue to fill a vacant spot on the Supreme Court, the same man – Ted Cruz – is whining about obstruction.
But nobody is buying the phony outrage.
Republicans spent the last eight years writing the playbook on “unprecedented obstruction.” It was only a matter of time before Democrats picked it up and started reading from it.
Sean Colarossi currently resides in Cleveland, Ohio. He earned his Bachelor of Arts degree in Journalism from the University of Massachusetts Amherst and was an organizing fellow for both of President Obama’s presidential campaigns. He also worked with Planned Parenthood as an Affordable Care Act Outreach Organizer in 2014, helping northeast Ohio residents obtain health insurance coverage.
