This might be one of the best exchanges in recent memory between a Biden Administration hopeful and Senator Ted Cruz. It might be the best exchange ever as Cruz absolutely obliterates them.
Kristen Clarke, Biden’s Justice Department Civil Rights Division nominee, tried to pull a fast one on Congress by claiming that, despite all of the rumors, she actually doesn’t want to defund the police. There’s only one problem for that, Senator Ted Cruz of Texas called her bluff, and he’s got solid evidence to prove she’s lying.
According to Fox News, the Democrat Senate Judiciary Chair, Dick Durbin, tried to head off the inevitable question about defunding the police by questioning her about a Newsweek piece she had written back in June of 2020 titled “I Prosecuted Police Killings. Defund the Police—But Be Strategic.”
“The article that you referenced, Senator, I wrote to make clear that I do not support defunding the police,” Clarke told Durbin. “I do support finding strategies to ensure that law enforcement can carry out their jobs more safely and effectively. And channeling resources to emotional health treatment and other severely under-resourced areas I think is one path forward.”
What she failed to realize was that Cruz was just sitting by quietly and smirking waiting his turn to actually call her out, beginning with the article’s title.
“Do you still believe it is a good idea to defund the police?” Cruz asked.
Clarke reiterated that she did not.
“I do not support defunding the police,” Clarke said. “The impetus to writing that op-ed was to make clear that I do not support defunding the police and I spend considerable time talking about the need to channel resources to places such as mental health treatment to alleviate some of the burdens that we place on the doorstep of law enforcement and the issues we ask them to wrestle with that are outside their core competency.”
Cruz didn’t buy it, and interrupted her, reminding her of the title of her article. He didn’t stop at that though, he then went straight into the article itself and reminder her that she wrote that Black Lives Matter protests “opened up space for transformative policy discussions,” and that “into that space has surged a unifying call from the Black Lives Matter movement: ‘Defund the police.’”
Clarke again tried to shoot down the notion that she wants to defund the police and was just trying to provide a different perspective at the time. In the words of the Brady Bunch, Sure Jan!
“Ms. Clarke, you know you’re testifying under oath here,” Cruz interrupted again, causing Durbin to become angry and demanding Cruz let her finish her response.
Regardless, Cruz continued to press and ignored the miserable and failed Dick Durbin of Illinois.
Cruz then brought up that Clarke had said “we must invest less in police,” which were followed by arguments for more investment in social workers and mental health assistance.
“And you just told this committee under oath you don’t support investing less in police. How do you square those?” Cruz asked.
Clarke again reiterated that she supports Biden giving the police $300 million. She also went on to claim that she wasn’t the one who wrote the headline of the article. At this point it’s becoming laughable.
“I advocate for defunding policing operations that have made African Americans more vulnerable to police violence and contributed to mass incarceration, while investing more in programs and policies that address critical community needs,” she wrote in her op-ed.
So what do you think America, is she lying? What could you possibly mean when you say you need to invest less in police and more in social workers and mental health insurance? You definitely aren’t supporting the police with those statements are you?
So epic!!😂