'Stop playing the nasty Washington game!' — Ted Cruz slaps down reporter over question about his children

Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Texas) got into a heated interaction with a reporter after a pointed question that involved his two daughters.

The exchange happened during a media briefing about the impeachment trial in the Senate on Monday.

Cruz was criticizing Democrats for arguing that President Donald Trump had only sought to investigate corruption in Ukraine in order to damage his political rival.

"We've just seen two hours of evidence. And at a minimum, it was not only reasonable and justified, but the president, I think, had an obligation to investigate corruption that potentially extended to the very highest levels of the government," said Cruz.

A reporter interrupted.

"Hunter Biden got a job. His dad was vice president," the reporter interjected. "If that's a crime, shouldn't half your children be in prison?"

"My children are 9 and 11, so I'm sorry you want to throw a 9-year-old in prison," Cruz responded, to some laughter.

"But at this point, my third-grader plays basketball and softball at her school, so stop playing the nasty Washington game!" he added.

"I'm sorry, it's not a nasty Washington game," the reporter objected.

"Attacking a 9-year-old?" Cruz shot back.

Hunter Biden has become embroiled in the scandal surrounding Ukraine because of his employment at a Ukrainian energy company during his father's tenure in the Obama administration.

Here's the video of the interaction:

www.youtube.com