Sen. Ted Cruz says watching paint dry would be more productive than tuning into a single second of the January 6 committee's first public hearing

• The January 6 committee is holding the first of six public hearings Thursday night.
• Ted Cruz said he won't be watching the "political campaign ad for Democrats."

Republican Sen. Ted Cruz of Texas offered up three things he'd rather do Thursday night than sit through any part of the January 6 committee's highly anticipated prime-time hearing.

"I've got to mow my lawn. Or comb my hair. Or maybe just watch the paint dry on the walls," Cruz said of what he considered better ways to invest one's time than validating the existence of "a political campaign ad for the Democrats."

Cruz bashed the ongoing House investigation as political theater meant to distract a recession-wary populace from all the ways he said President Joe Biden and congressional Democrats have failed them.

"From the opening gavel to the close of the hearing, one hundred percent of their endeavor is a political Hail Mary pass," Cruz told Insider in the tunnels beneath the Senate chamber. "The American people are deeply unhappy with the disaster of the left-wing policy agenda we've seen for the last two years."

On January 6, 2021, Cruz objected to the tallying of Arizona's electoral votes just minutes before ardent Donald Trump supporters stormed the building to prevent Joe Biden from rightfully becoming president.

At one point Cruz called the deadly siege a "violent terrorist attack" — an off-the-cuff assessment that earned him a tongue-lashing from Fox News host Tucker Carlson.

—Ted Cruz (@tedcruz) January 7, 2022

Cruz subsequently apologized for the "dumb choice of words."

When Insider asked him if January 6 committee staff might work up some policy proposals that could make his workplace safer, Cruz turned his head and smiled.

"I don't think they are trying to come up with meaningful and productive proposals," he said. "I think they're engaged in politics."