Cruz hits back after Politifact pins ‘false’ label on his defense of GOP Supreme Court confirmations

Politifact issued a “false” rating to U.S. Sen. Ted Cruz for his recent remarks regarding the Democratic Party’s push to expand the U.S. Supreme Court by adding four justices to the bench.

For his part, the Texas Republican responded by slamming the site and its fact-checkers, arguing that they misrepresented the truth about the court-packing scheme.

“No consistency on their part”

Under the guise of reaching an objective determination, Politifact relied on the progressive talking point that they are merely trying to “unpack” the nation’s highest court after the GOP corrupted it.

The outlet zeroed in on partisan grievances surrounding the nomination of Merrick Garland by then-President Barack Obama, which Republicans refused to consider. The seat remained vacant until Obama’s successor, Republican President Donald Trump, filled it with Justice Neil Gorsuch.

Last year, Democrats claimed that Republicans were being hypocrites for moving to quickly confirm Amy Coney Barrett shortly before the presidential election despite blocking Garland’s confirmation in an election year.

While Politifact conceded that Republicans had a “right” to do so, it claimed that Cruz was incorrect when he said his party did not try to “rig the game” by holding a perceived double standard.

“But there was no consistency on their part when they denied Garland a hearing for nearly a year yet rushed through Barrett’s nomination within weeks — other than advancing the party’s agenda,” Politifact asserted.

“Nobody even suggested it”

The notion of packing the court gained momentum during the Trump administration as some on the left began to insist that the Supreme Court had lost its “legitimacy” through GOP politicization.

More recently, several prominent Democrats — not to mention Politifact — have contended that Republicans were responsible for packing the court, but critics say they are pursuing an obvious power grab by promoting a plan to expand the number of justices to 13.

Cruz concluded that Politifact’s report used the term “court-packing” in a misleading way to falsely indict Republicans who supported the confirmation of justices to fill vacancies on the bench.

“Lying liars lie & that’s what Politi’fact’ does every day,” the senator wrote in a statement. “To ‘pack’ the Supreme Court is to ADD seats for political advantage. Republicans did NOT do so when we had control — nobody even suggested it.”

While there is room for political disagreement and debate regarding the behavior of GOP legislators, Cruz appears justified in criticizing Politifact for pretending to render an omniscient verdict. Sometimes, the difference between “fact-checking” and partisan propaganda can be hard to determine.

The post Cruz hits back after Politifact pins ‘false’ label on his defense of GOP Supreme Court confirmations first appeared on Conservative Institute.