Cruz snaps at debate moderator in dramatic moment of Texas debate

Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Texas) snapped at moderator Jason Whitely during one of the more dramatic moments of his Tuesday night debate with Rep. Beto O’Rourke, calling on the reporter to not interrupt him as he talked about rising anger from the left.

Cruz blamed the left for a lack of civility, an argument Republicans have increasingly been using since the furious debate over Supreme Court Justice Brett Kavanaugh’s confirmation.

{mosads}”You are right that there is a loss of civility, there is an anger, there is a rage on the far-left that is really frightening,” Cruz said, answering a question about civility in politics.

Whitely, a reporter with WFAA-TV in Dallas, sought to interject a point or question as Cruz continued, which appeared to throw Cruz off.

“Hold on, let me answer with a — don’t interrupt me, Jason,” he told Whitely, before continuing to talk about the necessity of treating people with respect. 

“Don’t interrupt me, Jason,” says Ted Cruz as the moderator tried to ask a follow-up question on the importance of remaining civil in debate.#TexasDebate https://t.co/zx11ahFiDT pic.twitter.com/4gxaJK3vw1

— CBS News (@CBSNews) October 16, 2018

A few guffaws and “whoas” can be heard from some members of the audience before Cruz continued to make his statement.

“The images of a left-wing mob beating on the doors of the Supreme Court. That’s not good for our country. We can disagree while treating each other with respect,” he said.