Ted Cruz Got Heckled Out of a Restaurant over His 'Best Friend' Kavanaugh

Ted Cruz became the latest target in a long line of political restaurant protests on Monday night when a group of left-wing activists showed up to a Washington, DC, restaurant where the Texas senator was sharing dinner with his wife. The group, known on Twitter as Smash Racism DC, singled out the Republican as one of many who's still supporting Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh, despite the multiple allegations of sexual misconduct against him.

A handful of activists showed up to Fiola, a glitzy DC Italian joint, partway through Cruz's meal and crowded around his table, NBC Washington reports. In video footage taken from the incident, a woman approaches Cruz, letting him know she's a constituent and asking him how he plans to vote on Kavanaugh's confirmation.

"Love to know what your vote is going to be tonight," she says. "I know that you're very close friends with Mr. Kavanaugh. And do you believe survivors, sir?"

Later, the group breaks into loud chants of "we believe survivors," while one protester adds, bizarrely, "Beto is way hotter than you, dude" in apparent reference to Cruz's Democratic Senate challenger, Beto O'Rourke. Cruz never really engages with the protesters, save for offering up a few "God bless you"s, and makes his way to the exit before the group is asked to leave.

Smash Racism DC claimed in their protest and in a tweet on Monday night that Cruz and Kavanaugh have been friends for 20 years, though it's not clear if that's true. According to the Dallas Morning News, Kavanaugh is a "longtime friend," though Cruz initially opposed him for the Supreme Court, arguing that he would have disappointed conservatives. Cruz, who's up for reelection in Texas, has since changed his tune and mostly threw him softball questions (including some that were literally about sports) during his confirmation hearings.

As for Cruz's challenger, O'Rourke tweeted on Tuesday morning that the protest was "not right."

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