Sen. Ted Cruz, R-Texas, held an impromptu debate with a reporter Monday about his role in the 2013 government shutdown.
Cruz spoke with reporters in a Capitol Building hallway about the current government shutdown, which may come to an end later Monday.
During the media session, MSNBC's Kasie Hunt pushed back when Cruz insisted that he was against the 2013 shutdown. Cruz famously gave a 21-hour speech to filibuster a planned vote on a budget bill with the intention of defunding the Affordable Care Act shortly before the shutdown began.
"I recognize that is a media narrative that you love to tell, but it's worth noting in 2013, I voted repeatedly to fund the government," Cruz said. "And in 2013, it was Harry Reid and the Democrats who voted no, who voted to shut the government down. Just like this week, Republicans voted to fund the government and it was [Senate Minority Leader] Chuck Schumer and the Democrats who voted to shut the government down."
Later, Hunt said Cruz "stood in the way" of keeping the government open, likely referring to his marathon filibuster speech.
"That is factually incorrect," Cruz said. "It's a wonderful media narrative, but only one thing actually causes a shutdown: when you have senators who vote to deny cloture on a funding bill. And when that bill comes up, you have a vote. A yes means fund the government, a no means don't fund the government. In 2013, virtually every single Republican voted to fund the government, including me multiple times. And every single Democrat, I believe, in 2013 voted to shut the government down."
Hunt then said, "Sir, that's simply not the case. This was about Obamacare funding … you insisted at that time …"
"I get that you want to debate me, but you don't actually have any facts," Cruz added, before moving on to another reporter's question.