'Everyone hated you': Ted Cruz gets clapback from lawmaker who went to law school with him
Sen. Ted Cruz (R-TX) got a cutting zinger thrown his way when he clashed with California state Sen. Scott Wiener on Wednesday.
Wiener, a San Francisco-area openly gay lawmaker widely considered a top candidate for former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi's seat when she retires, attacked Cruz on X over his interrogation of Adeel Mangi, President Joe Biden's nominee for the Court of Appeals for the 3rd Circuit.
If confirmed, Mangi would be the first Muslim appellate judge in the United States, but his nomination appears to be in jeopardy as Democratic senators have privately warned the White House they may not be able to provide the votes.
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"This is straight up Islamophobia," posted Wiener, who is Jewish. "This nominee is highly qualified. Ted Cruz grilled him about October 7. That’s no different than grilling a Jewish nominee about Israel’s conduct of the war. Are they asking other nominees these questions? Of course not. Only the Muslim nominee."
Cruz lashed out at Wiener after this remark.
"Wait, I thought this guy was thrown out of Congress for sending naked pictures of himself?" Cruz posted in reply. This appears to be a reference to disgraced former Rep. Anthony Weiner (D-NY), who is not the same person as Scott Wiener — although Cruz may have been deliberately conflating the two in an attempt at humor.
"Ted, remember when we went to law school together & everyone hated you?" Wiener wrote back Wednesday.
The pair attended Harvard Law School.