Ted Cruz STUNS Senate Hearing With Explosive History Lesson

追加: 2026-06-02

[00:00:00]one of the most nauseously racist politicians. What party was he from?

[00:00:04]>> He was a Democrat.

[00:00:05]>> The Democrats for the entire history of their party have been a party based on racial discrimination.

[00:00:13]Let me ask you, Mr. Graham, is discrimination Is discriminating based on race consistent with the United States Constitution?

[00:00:19]>> No.

[00:00:20]>> Uh what does the 14th Amendment say about discrimination based on race?

[00:00:25]>> Uh it's prohibited.

[00:00:26]>> What does the 15th Amendment say about discriminating based on race and in particular they're drawing congressional lines and explicitly discriminating based on race?

[00:00:34]>> It's prohibited.

[00:00:35]>> Less than a minute into this hearing, the temperature in the room changed completely. Senator Ted Cruz came prepared, and his argument left the entire panel in stunned silence.

[00:00:47]>> Um I would point out that that my my colleague from Hawaii questions whether or not people would be overtly uh discriminatory in the words that they would say. I would just point out to the California mapmaker who said the number one thing he was focused on was creating a racially gerrymandered district. So, people do say it. Um Senator Cruz.

[00:01:04]>> Thank you, Mr. Chairman. Just a moment ago, our colleague Senator Hirono said there's a lot more to say, and and indeed she's right.

[00:01:10]Uh and in fact, I I want to go back to her comments. She began by saying we have a long history of racial discrimination in this country. That's undoubtedly correct. And then she said, uh quote, we had poll taxes, we had literacy tests, we even had tests of how many jelly beans are in a jar. Mr. Chamberlain, when when Senator Hirono says, we had poll taxes, I want to ask you who we is, and in particular, what party was it that implemented poll tax taxes in the South?

[00:01:35]>> I I don't want to necessarily speak in every single case, but I'm pretty confident it was mostly the Democrats.

[00:01:39]>> Uh and what party was it that put literacy tests in in place in the South?

[00:01:42]>> Same answer, mostly the Democrats.

[00:01:44]>> And what party was it that had tests like how many jelly beans are in a bottle?

[00:01:47]>> The Democrats.

[00:01:48]>> Uh tell me, what party were the founders of the Ku Klux Klan from?

[00:01:53]>> I'm pretty sure that was the Democrats.

[00:01:55]>> Uh indeed, in fact, Nathan Bedford Forrest, the founder of the Klan, was a delegate to the 1860 Democrat National Convention.

[00:02:01]What party wrote the Jim Crow laws in the South?

[00:02:04]>> The Democrats.

[00:02:05]>> Um And and so on this side of the aisle were members of the Republican Party.

[00:02:10]Who was the first Republican president?

[00:02:11]>> Abraham Lincoln.

[00:02:12]>> The Republican Party was literally founded to oppose slavery. We came into existence because slavery was a grotesque evil and it was President Lincoln, the first Republican president, who signed the Emancipation uh Proclamation, who won the Civil War, and that resulted in the freeing of the slaves and the passage of the 13th, 14th, and 15th Amendments.

[00:02:34]By the way, fast forward to the Civil Rights era, Bull Connor, one of the most nauseously racist politicians, what party was he from?

[00:02:42]>> He He was a Democrat.

[00:02:44]>> The Democrats for the entire history of their party have been a party based on racial discrimination.

[00:02:52]They affirmatively embrace it.

[00:02:54]They support it.

[00:02:56]Let me ask you, Mr. Grimes, is discriminating is discriminating based on race consistent with the United States Constitution?

[00:03:02]>> No.

[00:03:03]>> Uh What does the 14th Amendment say about discrimination based on race?

[00:03:08]>> It's prohibited.

[00:03:09]>> What does the 15th Amendment say about discriminating based on race and in particular drawing congressional lines and explicitly discriminating based on race?

[00:03:17]>> It's prohibited.

[00:03:18]>> Now, the Democrats are fond of telling this story that is, and I wish I could find a kinder way to say it, a flat-out lie.

[00:03:29]That without discriminating based on race, that no African Americans will be elected and no Hispanics will be elected. Indeed, there was one fellow online who was a vocal left-wing spokesperson who tweeted out, "If I'm advising anybody to run for president, they sure as hell better have a solution to how you make sure that it's not in another 100 years before another black person can represent South Carolina. So that that's a typical Democrat statement that we cannot elect a black person in South Carolina without discriminating based on race.

[00:04:02]I want to ask you, Mr. Chamberlain, who is the junior senator from South Carolina right now?

[00:04:07]>> That would be Tim Scott.

[00:04:08]>> And All right, I'll tell you what I said online. I said, "Hey Grok, who is Tim Scott and why do Democrats think he isn't black?"

[00:04:17]And and by the way, was Tim Scott elected because of a gerrymandered district drawn only to elect an African American?

[00:04:22]>> No, he won statewide.

[00:04:23]>> He won statewide. Uh by the way, the Democrat position is you can only elect African Americans with a gerrymandered district. I will point out Burgess Owens, an African American is elected in a majority white district in the state of Utah. He's a Republican.

[00:04:37]Byron Donalds, another African American is elected in a majority white district in Florida. He is a Republican. John James, another African American is elected in a majority white district in Michigan. He is a Republican. And my own Congressman, Wesley Hunt, who represents me in the House of Representatives, he is elected in a majority white district.

[00:04:53]He is a Republican. And yet in the Democrats' world, you're not black if you're not a liberal Democrat.

[00:05:01]There is an arrogance to African American voters. By the way, they also have that same arrogance to Hispanic voters. They say you're not Hispanic if you're not a liberal Democrat. Well, I'll tell you I am proud to be the first Hispanic ever elected to represent the state of Texas in the United States Senate. And Mr. Chamberlain, in my election in Texas, was I elected in a gerrymandered district that could only elect a Hispanic?

[00:05:24]>> No, you were elected statewide.

[00:05:26]>> Discrimination based on race is wrong.

[00:05:30]Final question. The Democrats are now clutching their pearls that seats drawn to elect liberal Democrats in the South are going to go away.

[00:05:38]You may get black Republicans instead.

[00:05:39]Indeed, in Tennessee, they're freaking out that a liberal white guy, who's a Democrat, is likely going to lose his seat to an African American woman who's a Republican, and they say that's horrible racial oppression.

[00:05:51]My final question is this, if you look nationwide which party has egregiously abused gerrymandering for decades? Both parties are guilty of it, but which who who has been the worst offender and in particular take New England. Take Massachusetts, take Connecticut, take Rhode Island, take Maine, take Vermont, take New Hampshire.

[00:06:10]How many Republicans are elected from all of New England in the House of Representatives?

[00:06:13]>> I think the answer to that is zero.

[00:06:15]>> Zero. They've drawn every district in a naked gerrymander and yet they're very upset that their illegal pursuit of power has now been stopped by the Supreme Court that is enforcing the Constitution and prohibiting the racial gerrymandering discrimination their party is built on.

[00:06:29]>> Mr. Chairman, a point of >> Just a point >> Mr. Chairman, point of personal privilege.

[00:06:32]>> Uh sure.

[00:06:33]>> I feel personally aggrieved to sit here and to be lectured by my colleague from Texas.

[00:06:39]And this reminds me of the time when uh he was first elected to the Senate and the Judiciary Committee had a hearing on gun safety and he uh felt a need to lecture Dianne Feinstein who was well a leader on gun safety legislation and he took that opportunity to lecture Dianne Feinstein about gun safety and her leadership on the issue. And she said to him something along the lines of I did not sit here on this committee for however many years she did only to be lectured by you and that is how I feel.

[00:07:06]So why don't you just stop lecturing the rest of us?

[00:07:09]Just because you think you are the smartest person in the world doesn't mean the rest of us agree to that, okay?

[00:07:13]Thank you.

[00:07:14]>> Sen- Senator Hirono >> Senator >> I I knew Dianne Feinstein. I served with Dianne Feinstein and you're not Dianne Feinstein.

[00:07:19]>> All right, Senator Padilla. We're done.

[00:07:20]Senator >> This hearing quickly turned into one of the most intense political exchanges of the day. Senator Ted Cruz wasn't just debating policy, he was challenging a narrative. From poll taxes and Jim Crow laws to modern-day accusations of racial discrimination, Cruz laid out a forceful argument tying historical racism to the Democratic Party's past while questioning whether race-based districting is still necessary in America today.

[00:07:49]But here's where the tension really rises. This wasn't just a history lesson. Cruz pushed back hard against the idea that minority success in politics depends on race-focused districts, pointing to figures like Barack Obama, Tim Scott, Marco Rubio, and others as proof that Americans can and do vote beyond race.

[00:08:09]To supporters, it was a bold truth-telling moment. To critics, it was a deeply controversial oversimplification of history and modern voting rights.

[00:08:18]And that's exactly why this moment is exploding online. Because beneath the political fireworks lies a bigger question that continues to divide America. Are race-conscious policies still necessary to protect representation or have they become part of the problem?

[00:08:33]One thing is certain. This hearing wasn't calm. It wasn't quiet. And Ted Cruz definitely made sure everyone in that room felt the weight of the debate.