FILE: Republican U.S. Senator Ted Cruz takes part in a debate for the Texas U.S. Senate with Democratic Rep. Beto O'Rourke, in Dallas. (AP)
A group of radical protesters in Washington, D.C., shouted down Sen. Ted Cruz, R-Texas, and his wife in a restaurant Monday night, sending the couple to an early exit in a tense scene captured on video.
The group appeared to chastise Cruz over Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh, who is facing multiple sexual assault allegations. Two one-minute video clips were posted to the Twitter page of a group called “Smash Racism DC.”
The group’s Facebook page states that it is “united” in the fight against the “Nazis, Ku Klux Klan.”
In the first video clip, a group of protesters approach Cruz and his wife at a restaurant table, repeatedly shouting, “We believe survivors!”
“Hi, I’d love to talk to you about Brett Kavanaugh tonight. I’m a constituent, love to know what your vote is gonna be tonight. I know that you’re very close friends with Mr. Kavanaugh,” says a woman off camera. “Do you believe survivors?”
“Senator, I have a right to know what your position is on Brett Kavanaugh,” she continues.
“God bless you, ma'am,” Cruz says amid the shouts.
“Bless you as well, I really appreciate you,” the woman responds. “I’m a survivor of sexual assault. I believe all survivors. There are now three people who have come forward and who have said that Brett Kavanaugh has attacked them. I know that you’re close friends with him. Could you talk to him about that? Could you talk to him about his position?”
Cruz then appears to get up and head for the exit with his wife.
“How are you gonna vote, sir?” the woman asks.
In the second video, the protesters continue shouting, “We believe survivors!” as Cruz is seen struggling to get through the crowd.
“Beto’s way hotter than you, dude!” says one protester off camera, in reference to Democratic congressman Beto O’Rourke, Cruz’s challenger for his U.S. Senate seat.
“Excuse me, let my wife through,” Cruz says to the hostile crowd.
As Cruz nears the exit, a woman is heard shouting, “Are you going to confirm your best friend Kavanaugh?”
Another protester shouts: “Sexist, racist, anti-gay!”
When Cruz leaves the restaurant, the protesters cheer. A restaurant worker appears, telling the group to leave.
Cruz has pushed for Christine Blasey Ford, one of Kavanaugh’s accusers, to testify in public, according to The Texas Tribune.
"These allegations are serious and deserve to be treated with respect," Cruz said in a statement. "Professor Ford should have a full opportunity to tell her story before the Judiciary Committee, and Judge Kavanaugh should have a full opportunity to defend himself. That hearing should be sooner, rather than later, so the committee can make the best assessment possible of the allegations."
It’s not the first time a Republican politician has been publicly confronted.
Homeland Security Secretary Kirstjen Nielsen was heckled and harassed at a Mexican Washington D.C. restaurant in June. A video posted by the Metro DC Democratic Socialists of America showed a group of protesters shouting “Shame!” at Nielson.
Days later, White House press secretary Sarah Sanders and her family were kicked out of a Virginia restaurant. The eatery cited morality and living up to “certain standards” as the reasons behind the decision.
Rep. Maxine Waters, D-Calif., encouraged supporters after the two incidents to fight back against the Trump administration. She said at the time current administration officials who defend Trump “know what they’re doing is wrong” and said they soon won’t be able to peacefully appear in public without being harassed. She later backed off from those remarks.
Cruz's office did not immediately respond to Fox News' request for comment on his confrontation.
