'Beto is way hotter than you, dude': Ted Cruz and his wife leave restaurant after being heckled
- Sen. Ted Cruz of Texas and his wife were accosted at a restaurant in Washington, DC, on Monday night after several protestors criticized his support of Judge Brett Kavanaugh.
- As Cruz and his wife Heidi began leaving the restaurant, hecklers chanted "we believe survivors," in reference to the allegations of sexual misconduct against Kavanaugh.
- Cruz described Kavanaugh as "unquestionably qualified" for the Supreme Court earlier in September, but he admitted on Friday that the recent allegations were severe enough to warrant a closer look.
- "The allegations she's raised are serious, and they deserve to be treated with respect," Cruz said during a debate with Democratic Rep. Beto O'Rourke on Friday, in reference to Christine Blasey Ford's claim.
Sen. Ted Cruz of Texas and his wife were accosted at a restaurant in Washington, DC, on Monday night after several protesters criticized his support of Judge Brett Kavanaugh, President Donald Trump's nominee for the Supreme Court.
As Cruz and his wife, Heidi, began leaving the restaurant, hecklers referred to the sexual misconduct allegations against Kavanaugh and chanted "we believe survivors."
"Beto is way hotter than you, dude," one of the hecklers said at one point, in reference to Democratic Rep. Beto O'Rourke, his opponent in the midterm elections.
"God bless you," Cruz said.
"God bless you too," a heckler shouted back.
Kavanaugh's nomination has become a contentious issue after at least two women came forward to accuse him of sexual misconduct that they said happened in the 1980s. Kavanaugh categorically denied the allegations and said he would testify to "defend my integrity."
Cruz, like the majority of Republican lawmakers, has supported Kavanaugh's nomination. Although Cruz described Kavanaugh as "unquestionably qualified" during a Senate Judiciary Committee hearing earlier in September, he admitted that the allegations were severe enough to warrant a closer look.
"The allegations ... are serious, and they deserve to be treated with respect," Cruz said during a debate with O'Rourke on Friday.
Voting for Kavanaugh's confirmation was delayed after he and Christine Blasey Ford, a research psychologist and professor who accused him of sexually assaulting her at a house party during high school, agreed to testify before the Senate Judiciary Committee's hearing on Thursday.
Other senior Trump's administration officials have been heckled at public restaurants. In June, Homeland Security secretary Kirstjen Nielsen was confronted at a Mexican restaurant in the nation's capital by protesters who criticized the administration's zero-tolerance immigration policy.
White House press secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders was denied service at a restaurant in Lexington, Virginia, because of her work in the Trump administration.
Sanders wrote about the owner of the Red Hen restaurant after the incident: "Her actions say far more about her than about me. I always do my best to treat people, including those I disagree with, respectfully and will continue to do so."