A group of protesters, angry about the nomination of Brett Kavanaugh to the Supreme Court, confronted Senator Ted Cruz as he ate dinner in a swanky DC restaurant on Monday evening. The incident occurred at Fiola, an Italian restaurant on Pennsylvania Avenue.
You can watch the video here:
The protesters, who appeared to be mainly young men and women, surrounded Cruz and his wife at their table, chanting, “We believe survivors.”
Cruz, remaining calm throughout, said, “God bless you.” He added, “can you let my wife through?” as he and his wife, Heidi, stood up to leave.
One of the protesters, who said that she herself was a survivor of a sexual assault, confronted Cruz directly and tried to start a dialogue about Kavanaugh. You can watch the video of her interaction with Cruz here:
“Do you believe survivors, sir?” the woman asked Cruz. (She added, “please don’t touch me,” presumably speaking to a guard.) She said, “I’m a constituent. I’d love to know what your vote is going to be tonight. I know that you’re very close friends with Mr. Kavanaugh. And do you believe survivors, sir?”
The crowd of protesters kept up a background chant throughout, saying, “we believe survivors.”
Cruz ignored her, stood up, and prepared to walk out. He said only, “God bless you.” “God bless you too,” said the woman.
Cruz is the latest Republican official to be targeted by protesters at restaurants in the D.C. area. Homeland Security Director Kirstjen Nielsen was driven out of a Mexican restaurant in June during the height of the controversy over the separation of immigrant children from their parents at the border. Also in June, Press Secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders was asked to leave the Red Hen Restaurant in Virginia. And that same month White House aide Stephen Miller was heckled at a Mexican restaurant and called a “fascist.”
There have been incidents outside of the Beltway too. Florida Attorney General Pam Bondi, a Republican, was heckled after attending a showing of the Mister Rogers documentary, “Won’t You Be My Neighbor.” Conservative commentator Tomi Lahren had a drink thrown at her while at brunch with her parents in Minnesota in May.
In Austin, Sexual Assault Survivors Rallied Outside of Cruz’s Office
A group of women organized by the women’s rights group UltraViolet Action gathered outside of Ted Cruz’s office in Austin on Monday night, calling for Kavanaugh’s nomination to the Supreme Court to be withdrawn. The protesters each carried a sign telling their story and detailing their own experience with sexual assault.
Protesters have targeted Ted Cruz because he has been an outspoken supporter of Kavanaugh; Cruz has also talked about his long-standing friendship with Kavanaugh. Cruz delivered the opening remarks at Kavanaugh’s Senate hearing on September 4th. The Texas senator said, Judge “Kavanaugh, welcome. Welcome to your family and to your friends. Demonstrating your good judgment, your wife was born and raised in West Texas, and you and she have been good friends of Heidi and mine for 20 years. Thank you for your decades of public service. ”
You can watch Cruz’s remarks here.
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