During Tuesday night’s debate against Democratic Texas Rep. Colin Allred, Republican Sen. Ted Cruz snapped at moderator Jason Whitely of WFAA for persistently pressing him on his position regarding abortion.

Whitely repeatedly questioned Cruz about his personal views on the topic. Cruz highlighted the divisive nature of the abortion debate and emphasized addressing the issue through elections, ultimately asking the moderator why he continued to pose the question, the Daily Caller reported.

“Texas has one of the strictest abortion bans in the United States,” Whitely said. “There’s no exception for rape or incest, as you know. In 2021, you co-sponsored a bill in Congress that included those exceptions. But a year later, when the Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade, you said that you agree with the Texas law that has zero exceptions. So tonight, the question is, where do you stand on this? And we’re asking for your personal opinion as a Texan and as a father.”

“Well, listen, abortion is an issue many Texans and many Americans care deeply about,” Cruz began. “And it’s an issue people of good faith can disagree. People are genuinely and deeply pro-life. People are genuinely and deeply pro-choice. And there are all sorts of positions in between. I agree with the United States Supreme Court that under our Constitution, the way we resolve questions like that, questions on which we have real and genuine disagreements, it’s at the ballot box, is voting.”

Whitely later tried to redirect the conversation back to the initial question after Allred had spoken, pressing Cruz for a direct answer regarding his personal stance on abortion, specifically concerning exceptions for rape and incest.

Cruz responded by talking about Allred’s legislative record on issues including parental rights, after which Whitely asked, “Why is this an issue you won’t address, about saying whether you support or oppose exceptions.”

“Jason, I’m curious,” Cruz responded. “Why do you keep asking me that?”

Currently Cruz is leading Allred by 4 points in FiveThirtyEight’s most recent average of polls. He’s also up by about the same number in the RealClearPolitics average of polling.