Texas Senator Ted Cruz—who faced backlash for ditching his constituents in the cold to go to Cancun during the power outages—was schooled by historian Kevin M. Kruse in an ongoing Twitter feud.
Cruz previously slammed President Joe Biden's nominee for Secretary of Health and Human Services (HHS), Xavier Becerra, arguing Becerra was unqualified because of his background as an attorney and not as a scientist.
The Texas GOP Senator tweeted:
"If a Republican tried to nominate a trial lawyer like Xavier Becerra to lead HHS in the midst of a global pandemic, they would be laughed out of the room."
Kruse is a professor of history at Princeton University.
Here is a brief clip of his sardonic wit featured in an episode of Samantha Bee. where he roasts former President Donald Trump.
In response to Cruz's misinformed opinion of Becerra, the historian schooled the Junior Senator with some facts on Biden's HHS pick.
"He was a US Congressman from 1993 to 2017, and then served as the attorney general of California, but sure, dismiss him as a 'trial lawyer.'"
The Senator tweeted back:
"Is he going to sue the virus?"
A while later, Cruz tried to present a case.
"I've been a lawyer for 25 yrs & a Senator for 8. Would you hire me to remove your appendix?"
"Of course not. I'm not remotely qualified to be HHS Secretary—& neither are you, a history professor & pundit. Bacerra [sic] is a left-wing activist. During a pandemic, we need a scientist."
To make a point, Kruse mentioned former President Donald Trump's pick of a physician who previously had no government experience.
"When you voted to confirm Ben Carson as the Secretary of Housing and Urban Development, did you think he was going to perform brain surgery on an apartment?"
The humble historian later joked about Twitter ratios and posted comparison tweets showing their respective number of likes.
"I'm a little rusty on the federal laws on Twitter ratios, but I *think* this means I'm now the U.S. Senator from Texas?"
@KevinMKruse/Twitter
Yet, the historian was given high marks for his engagement with Cruz.
The Texas Senator joined about 100 conservatives voicing opposition to Becerra.
They painted him as an "extremist" and feared he would carry a liberal agenda if confirmed. In a memo obtained by Fox News, the Conservative Action Project outlined their concerns.
The memo expected to be sent to every Republican member of Congress read:
"Conservatives oppose the confirmation of Xavier Becerra to lead the Department of Health and Human Services."
"No federal agency has more influence over policies relating to the sanctity of life, human dignity, and religious liberty than HHS."
"Becerra has a troubling record on all of these fronts. He is an extremist nominee who will carry the agendas of liberal dark money groups to his administration post if confirmed."
Despite the Republicans' fervent opposition of Becerra, Politico said Democrats are confident he will have enough votes to confirm his nomination.
Jane Rosenberg
Jane Rosenberg
@arianagrande/Instagram
@arianagrande/Instagram