Video: Heated Exchange at Senate Judiciary Committee Hearing

At Thursday's Senate Judiciary Committee hearing on anti-lynching legislation, Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Texas) found himself in a heated exchange over his past comments on the issue.

Cruz has previously opposed making lynching a federal hate crime, arguing that doing so would expand the federal government's power. On Thursday, however, he said he would support the bill if certain amendments were made.

Specifically, Cruz said he wanted language added to the bill to clarify that it would not apply to cases where the victim was killed in self-defense, or where the defendant was acting under the duress of threats of imminent bodily harm.

Democrats on the committee rejected Cruz's proposed amendments, saying they would weaken the bill and make it less effective at deterring hate crimes.

The exchange between Cruz and Sen. Cory Booker (D-N.J.) grew particularly heated when Cruz accused Booker of suggesting that he supported lynching.

Booker had said that Cruz's past comments on the issue had "given comfort to white supremacists." Cruz responded by saying that Booker was "twisting his words" and that he had "never supported lynching."

The hearing on anti-lynching legislation comes in the wake of a recent spate of hate crimes, including the shooting at a Walmart in El Paso, Texas, that left 22 people dead.

The bill under consideration, the Emmett Till Antilynching Act, would make lynching a federal hate crime and provide for enhanced penalties for those convicted of the crime.

The bill has been passed by the House of Representatives and is now being considered by the Senate.