Cruz Silent After Activists Confront Him, Wife In DC Restaurant
DALLAS (CBSDFW.COM) - Texas Senator Ted Cruz wouldn't comment Tuesday after activists confronted him and his wife Heidi at a Washington, D.C. restaurant the night before.
The confrontation appeared in a video that went viral after being posted on Twitter by the group Smash Racism DC.
The group said Democratic Socialists, Anarchists, sexual abuse survivors, and some in the
LGBTQ community joined their members in chasing Cruz and his wife from the Fiola restaurant near the White House.
In the video, the activists can be seen chanting "We believe survivors."
The Fiola restaurant said Tuesday the protesters unexpectedly entered their restaurant Monday night, and in a statement said, "...Recognizing that there was a potential for escalation and concern for the safety of all our customers, our management did what they could to diffuse a difficult situation and, as is our policy, if there is ever an event of this nature, the police were immediately called..."
When one woman asks the Senator whether he plans to vote to confirm Judge Brett Kavanaugh to the Supreme Court, Cruz answered, "God bless you."
Cruz has said Judge Kavanaugh's accuser, Dr. Christine Ford, should be heard.
But activists targeted the Senator because he supports Kavanaugh being confirmed to the Supreme Court.
In a tweet, Smash Racism DC said in part, "No - you can't eat in peace - your politics are an attack on all of us..."
While Senator Cruz isn't commenting, his opponent, Democrat Beto O'Rourke tweeted Tuesday morning, "Not right that Senator Cruz and his wife Heidi were surrounded and forced to leave a restaurant last night because of protesters. The Cruz family should be treated with respect."
Fawaz Anwar, President of the UT Dallas College Democrats said, "I agree with that. I think it was inappropriate."
Anwar though said he does support the groups' efforts to stop Judge Kavanaugh from becoming a Supreme Court Justice.
"I understand that the protesters are choosing an unorthodox way of protest, one that may not be conventional and may not be pleasant to watch, but protest is not meant to be conventional or pleasant. We need to do unconventional measures to stop things from happening."
Cathie Adams, First VP of the national conservative group Eagle Forum said, "There was no respect for the Senator and his wife."
She criticized the groups' tactics. "I'm very sad America has regressed to this point and in specifics, it has to be the Democrat party, who has decided that they're no holds barred. It's all-out war on anyone who doesn't agree with them."
SMU Political Science Professor Cal Jillson said the confrontation won't have much effect on the tight Senate race. "I don't expect the confrontation to have a lot of impact on the race here in Texas because both campaigns seem to have it right in the way they addressed it."
