Did Ted Cruz Lie About Republicans Not Engaging in 'Court Packing'?
Let's talk about the definition of that term.
By Alec Dent
A recent article from HuffPost claimed that Sen. Ted Cruz lied in denying that Republicans had engaged in court packing when they controlled the White House and Congress during the Trump administration.
The article—titled "'Gaslighting 101': Sen. Ted Cruz Ripped For One Of His Biggest, Boldest Lies Yet"—includes a video clip of Cruz during a press conference April 22, speaking about recent Democratic attempts to increase the size of the Supreme Court. The video shows Cruz saying: "You didn't see Republicans, when we had control of the Senate, try to rig the game. You didn't see us try to pack the court. There was nothing that would have prevented Republicans from doing what they're doing other than respect for the rule of law, other than basic decency, other than recognizing that democracy matters and packing the court and tearing down the institutions that protect our rights is fundamentally wrong."
The video then shows text reading: "When Republicans controlled the White House and Congress, they loved ramming judges through the system, including at least 174 district court judges and 54 appeals court judges. Senate Republicans also confirmed three Supreme Court justices, including Amy Coney Barrett. Barrett, nominated after Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg died, was confirmed a week before the 2020 election. Many called out then-Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY) for rushing Barrett onto the bench, considering he declared in 2016 that an outgoing presidency shouldn't fill a Supreme Court vacancy."
The article stated that "Given those very recent events, Cruz's critics weren't buying his claim that Republicans hadn't rigged the system to stack the court" and linked to several tweets from detractors.
About Alec Dent
Alec Dent is the culture editor and a staff writer for The Dispatch. He is a graduate of the Hussman School of Journalism and Media at UNC Chapel Hill, and previously oversaw The Dispatch's fact checking team.
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