Ted Cruz Caught Checking His Twitter Mentions Minutes After Performative Hearing Dustup

GREG NASH/POOL/AFP

Senator Ted Cruz went full Ted Cruz during the confirmation hearings of Judge Ketanji Brown Jackson Wednesday afternoon and followed his performative arguments with fellow senators and absurd questions of the Supreme Court nominee in the most Ted Cruz way possible: checking Twitter for his mentions.

And though it may seem obvious, it bears mentioning: never go full Ted Cruz.

Cruz’s performative approach to these televised hearings are terrific for Mediaite editors looking to trade videos of congressional jackassery for clicks, and today was no exception. There was Cruz battling with Dick Durbin’s gavel (which sounds way dirtier than it was) and then there was Cruz asking Judge Jackson if he could identify as an Asian man for legal purposes. Yes, that really happened.

Why would Senator Cruz act like such a fool? It couldn’t be a simple plea for attention, could it? Well, maybe it was.

Shortly after his turn to question Judge Jackson shared a photo of the Texas senator in which he appears to be looking at his phone. The LA Times reporter added “Ted Cruz looks like he’s checking his mentions after his back and forths with KBJ and Durbin.”

But wait there’s more. Kent Nishimura, staff photojournalist for LA Times, shared a photo of Cruz from behind and reported “Can confirm this. He was searching twitter for his name, this was right after his exchange with Chairman Durbin.

So there it is. Ted Cruz acts the fool and watches his Twitter machine blow up. He is an elected senator representing the great state of Texas.

This is an opinion piece. The views expressed in this article are those of just the author.