Chris Cuomo asks Sen. Ted Cruz why he’s criticizing his Democratic challenger Beto O’Rourke for going by the childhood nickname ‘Beto’ when Cruz’s real name is actually Rafael: “You’re absolutely right. My name is Rafael Edward Cruz.” https://t.co/tkyhJy6DXk pic.twitter.com/l90lFsvNjf
— CNN (@CNN) March 7, 2018
The morning after Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Texas) released a “jingle” criticizing his Democratic challenger, Rep. Beto O’Rourke, after he clinched the nomination in Tuesday’s primary, the former presidential hopeful made the cable news rounds to convince his supporters (and himself) that his re-election bid was secure. The incumbent politician’s evident nervousness notwithstanding, one of the main takeaways Twitter pundits and morning show hosts like CNN’s Chris Cuomo had after watching Cruz’s campaign ad concerned its criticism of O’Rourke’s name.
“You didn’t like that dirty pull when you were running for president, and [Donald Trump] called you ‘lyin’ Ted,'” said Cuomo, who also pointed out the obvious fact that Cruz goes by “Ted” instead of his first name, Rafael. The senator seemingly acknowledged that Cuomo was “absolutely right” regarding the pair’s nicknames, but instead avoided the “why” question and launched into a soapbox about his father’s immigrating to the United States from Cuba “with nothing.” What’s more, the unsuccessful presidential candidate also tried to explain to Cuomo how comedy works regarding the ad’s musical content:
“In terms of the jingle, some of it is just having a sense of humor. You actually missed the central… the title of the song, which is, ‘If You’re Gonna Run In Texas, You Can’t Run as a Liberal Man.’ We had some fun with it.”
Leaving aside Cruz’s cringe-worthy attempt to explain the humor of changing a few words in the title and lyrics of a classic Alabama song, the internet unsurprisingly had a few things to say about the ad’s “jingle” and the comedy therein.
https://twitter.com/abbydphillip/status/971365353510113280
https://twitter.com/JamieOGrady/status/971375440802828289
https://twitter.com/MollyJongFast/status/971376292678586369
Fun fact: Rafael Cruz (Ted’s real name) immigrated to America from his home country of Canada using chain migration https://t.co/RtcRDB9hXs
— LeGate (@williamlegate) March 7, 2018
🎵 "If you're gonna run in Texas you can't be a liberal man, cause liberal thought is not the spirit of a lone star man. Good ole Senator Ted Cruz keeps his lube up on the shelf, he don't need no woman, just porn, friction, and himself." 🎵
(Steel Guitar solo.)
— Mr. Newberger (@jeremynewberger) March 7, 2018
was just thinking about when Ted Cruz named Carly Fiorina his running mate and then quit the race a week later
— Simon Maloy (@SimonMaloy) March 7, 2018
Can't wait for Beto O'Rourke's country song "The Difference Between Me and Ted Cruz is I'd Stand Up for Ted Cruz's Family."
— L O L G O P (@LOLGOP) March 7, 2018
(Via CNN)