For an unknown reason, the Ted Cruz campaign uploaded 12 hours of uncut footage (featuring Ted Cruz) to YouTube this summer. The clips sat there for quite some time, perhaps because even the most hardcore Ted Cruz fan isn’t willing to dig through such footage at random. Not that Cruz doesn’t have a following. He and Marco Rubio have met an unexpected surge in the polls, so the time is ripe for some Cruz footage for the ages.
Luckily, CNN caught wind of the surplus videos and edited that puppy down to the most awkward moments of all. In this compilation, Cruz instructs his close and extended family how to behave in front of the camera. He prods them into telling stories they don’t really want to tell (and you can hear the off-camera exchanges), and he grows visibly flustered at the hint of a scene-interrupting cough. Cruz organizes carefree walks down a sidewalk with his wife and two daughters, which don’t come off as entirely carefree. He leads the family through pre-dinner prayers, and the process is delightfully cringeworthy to witness.
Ted Cruz is awkward enough on his own. We know this without watching him fumble through 15 takes to land a proper “I endorse this message,” but it’s still awe-inspiring to see. Ted Cruz did this to himself.