When it comes to senatorial self-owns, Ted Cruz is the undisputed king, and his skills have been on full display during the Supreme Court confirmation hearing for Judge Ketanji Brown Jackson. Earlier in the week, Cruz made headlines after he asked Jackson if she thinks “babies are racist” as he joined several Republican senators in using the hearing as a platform to rail against critical race theory. While holding copies of Dr. Ibram X. Kendi’s Antiracist Baby and Stamped (For Kids), Cruz demanded that Jackson denounce the books even though they had absolutely nothing to do with her ability to serve as a Supreme Court justice.
“There are portions of this book that I find really quite remarkable. One portion of the book says babies are taught to be racist or anti-racist,” Cruz said. “Do you agree with this book that is being taught with kids that babies are racist?”
As you can see, the line of questioning was completely nonsensical. Not only did it blow up in Cruz’s face as he was ruthlessly roasted on social media and by late-night comedians, but both books have now become bestsellers thanks to Cruz putting a spotlight on them. Via Variety:
“Antiracist Baby” and “Stamped (For Kids),” both of which came out two years ago, shot to Amazon’s bestsellers list the day after Cruz’s comments. Both were No. 1 New York Times bestsellers upon their initial releases in 2020.
Cruz also unwittingly helped boost sales for the other titles that he mentioned. Alex Vitale’s 2017 book “The End of Policing,” which argues for the eventual abolition of the police, became a No. 1 bestseller in Amazon’s Government and Social Policy category.
Like we said, nobody dunks on themselves like Ted Cruz. He’s the Michael Jordan of self-owns.
(Via Variety)