Commotion: Ted Cruz's Mansplaining

Misbar’s investigation found that during a discussion of judicial originalism, Cruz cut off Senator Jon Ossoff, telling him that “generally we don’t have the chairman trying to jump in 30 seconds in.” Ossoff allowed a point of privilege to Hirono since Cruz referenced her prior to the discussion. Cruz said, “She doesn’t want judges who will follow the original understanding of the Constitution. Is it right that you don’t intend to follow the original understanding of the Constitution?”

In response, Hirono said, “I would request that my colleague, Sen. Cruz, not misstate what I’m saying. You know what, all this mansplaining, please stop.”

Cruz responded, “What was mischaracterized, Senator Hirono? You just said I mischaracterized something.” After Ossoff pounded his gavel, Cruz continued, “I’m very proud you have a gavel, but a point of personal privilege. Senator Hirono just said I mischaracterized something she said. So I’m asking her to explain what was mischaracterized. You’re welcome to explain what was mischaracterized.”

Hirono said: “The thing with my colleague is, he always has to get the last word and that is a fact.”

According to Merriam-Webster, mansplaining is “to explain something to a woman in a condescending way that assumes she has no knowledge about the topic.” The BBC published a chart detailing the phenomenon.

While there are certainly instances where Cruz could be rightfully accused of mansplaining – in particular, what some find to be an erroneous understanding of women’s pregnancy issues without relevant experience – in this case, Cruz wasn't exactly mansplaining using the widely-accepted definition of the term. He did not explain Hirono’s views to her in a way that assumed she had no knowledge on the topic; rather, he explained her views in a way that assumed he knew exactly what her views were. This may seem like splitting hairs, but there is a minor difference between the two. Because of this, we rate this claim as commotion.