Texas Sen. Ted Cruz told Fox News Tuesday that President Donald Trump's nomination of federal appeals judge Neil Gorsuch to the Supreme Court was "a home run" and a "big, big deal."

"His academic record, his background is extraordinary," Cruz told "Tucker Carlson Tonight." "He was a law clerk to Byron White, who is John F. Kennedy’s only Supreme Court nomination –he was a Democrat himself, Byron White – and Judge Gorsuch’s record is such that he has demonstrated the intelligence, the humility, the faithfulness to law that I think Republicans are going to vote for, but I also hope and believe a number of Democrats will as well."

Cruz, who unsuccessfully sought the Republican nomination in 2016, vowed that Senate Democrats would not be able to derail Gorsuch's nomination, telling Carlson that "one way or another, I believe the Senate will confirm Judge Gorsuch to the Supreme Court."

The senator pointed out that Gorsuch was confirmed by voice vote when nominated to the federal bench in 2006 by then-President George W. Bush.

"The question I would ask Senate Democrats now is ‘What’s changed?’" Cruz said. "What has changed? A decade ago, you were willing to confirm him to the Court of Appeals and the only thing that’s changed is [that] he has a decade of an exemplary record."

"The Democrats are not going to succeed in filibustering this nomination," Cruz vowed, "and President Trump is going to meet his promise to the American people."