Sen. Ted Cruz, R-Texas, called out Democrats for cutting off Turning Point USA's Candace Owens at a hearing Tuesday after she lashed out at Rep. Ted Lieu, D-Calif., for suggesting she was legitimatizing Nazi leader Adolf Hitler.

“Sad. House Dems gavel down a Black woman, trying to silence her from defending herself after they call her 'despicable.' Brings back particularly ugly chapters in the history of the Democratic Party,” Cruz said on Twitter.



Sad. House Dems gavel down a Black woman, trying to silence her from defending herself after they call her “despicable.” Brings back particularly ugly chapters in the history of the Democratic Party. https://t.co/xEWy91yiti — Ted Cruz (@tedcruz) April 10, 2019



Lieu held up his phone and played a clip of Owens once saying Hitler’s problem was not nationalism, but rather globalism.

Lieu asked one of the other witnesses on the panel whether remarks that “legitimize” Hitler feed into white nationalism.

Given a chance to respond, Owens said, “It’s pretty apparent that Mr. Lieu believes that black people are stupid,” before she was cut off by Rep. Jerry Nadler, the chairman of the House Judiciary Committee.



.@tedlieu played a clip of @RealCandaceO's controversial comments about Hitler during a congressional hearing on white nationalism.



"It's pretty apparent that Mr. Lieu believes that black people are stupid and will not pursue the full clip .." @RepJerryNadler cut her off. pic.twitter.com/zQp54uipWi — Washington Examiner (@dcexaminer) April 9, 2019



"The witness may not refer to a member of the committee as stupid," Nadler said.

Owens claimed Democrats took her comments on Hitler out of context.

Cruz's "ugly history" comment refers to the Democratic Party's past support of slavery and Jim Crow laws, an attitude which has significantly shifted. Many candidates running for the 2020 Democratic presidential nomination have signaled support for H.R. 40, a bill that would create a commission to study the need for reparations for slavery and discrimination.

Turning Point USA was founded by Charlie Kirk in 2012. Owens, who is director of communications for the group, testified before Congress on Tuesday in a hearing about hate crimes.