Cruz tells Dems at Barrett hearing ‘we’ve heard a lot of attacks on Trump,' ‘little about the nominee’

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Republicans and Democrats have fundamentally different visions of the court: Sen. Cruz

Texas Senator Ted Cruz explains his views of the Supreme Court's responsibilities during Judge Amy Coney Barrett's confirmation hearing.

Republican Sen. Ted Cruz called out his Democrat peers on the Senate Judiciary Committee, wondering why they seemed more focused on President Donald Trump than on Supreme Court nominee Amy Coney Barrett.

The Texas senator gave his opening remarks on the first day of hearings via video conference, and he dedicated his time – as did other Republican senators – to speaking about the focus of the hearing.

“We’ve heard a lot of attacks [on] Trump … we’ve heard a lot of political rhetoric … but we’ve heard very little about the nominee who is here,” Cruz said.

“Part of the reason for that, is on any measure, Judge Barrett’s credentials are impeccable.”

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Democrat members of the committee focused on two main points: that they believed Trump aims to appoint Barrett in order to overturn the Affordable Care Act, and that Barrett should recuse herself from any cases relating to Trump that come before the court in November.

Meanwhile, Republican senators discussed Barrett’s past accomplishments as a clerk, professor and federal judge.

Cruz spoke via video conference as a precautionary measure, as he is quarantining after interacting with Sen. Mike Lee, who tested positive for COVID-19 on Oct. 2.

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Cruz has not exhibited any COVID-19 symptoms and has tested negative, a spokesperson for the senator said. Cruz is expected to return to the hearings in person starting Tuesday, the spokesperson told Fox News.