Senator Ted Cruz On SCOTUS And The Justices He’d Appoint

[Valin]

Hugh Hewitt Show:

Hugh Hewitt

Monday, June 29, 2015

 

Audio

 

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HH: Now Senator Cruz, in the last few days, I did not hear what you said about the aftermath of the Obamacare decision being the darkest 24 hours in our nation’s history. I think your opponents are distorting what you said. I think you said some of the darkest 24 hours in our nation’s history. Is that correct?

 

TC: That is correct. I said exactly what you put, some of the darkest hours. And in 24 hours, we had two decisions that fundamentally undermined our Constitution, that as Justice Scalia powerfully put it in dissent, that pose a threat to our democracy. On Thursday, a majority of the Court violated the law, rewrote Obamacare to force that failed law on millions of Americans. And on Friday, a majority of the Court violated the Constitution and purported to strike down the marriage laws that had been adopted democratically by state legislatures throughout our nation.

 

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HH: Blackmun was on the Court because Haynsworth and then the horrible Carswell, the third choice turned out not to be reliable. If you’re the president of the United States, I’d like some names of people who you would actually think right now could fill the three or two or four vacancies that are coming in the next presidency.

 

TC: Well, I’m not going to give you specific names today, but what I will say is that I have spent literally my entire life fighting to combat judicial activism, fighting to defend the Constitution. Tomorrow, I’ve got a new book coming out, A Time For Truth, and in that book, I describe in great detail the year I clerked at the U.S. Supreme Court for Chief Justice Williams Rehnquist. I bring people behind the scenes to what happens at the Court. I describe litigating before the U.S. Supreme Court for over a decade, both representing the state of Texas and representing private clients. And I also describe what happens behind closed doors in the United States Senate. And so I would encourage folks, if you want to know what’s really going on with what I call the Washington cartel, career politicians in both parties who join with lobbyists and special interests against the American people and the taxpayers. I would encourage folks to go and read A Time For Truth, my new book, which lays out these principles in great detail. And what I would say on judges is there is no question I would focus with greater seriousness that ensuring that any U.S. Supreme Court justice would follow the law and the Constitution, and demonstrate fidelity to the law. I think activism is a profound threat to our democracy, and I do think that’s one of the sharp differences between me and the other candidates in the race, is that you don’t have other candidates who have the background or experience to make those judgments or a proven record of fighting over and over again, defending the Constitution.

 

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