Ted Cruz tells a pretty good joke about eating someone's son
A free daily email with the biggest news stories of the day – and the best features from TheWeek.com
You are now subscribed
Your newsletter sign-up was successful
In a speech to the American Petroleum Institute on Tuesday, Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Texas) didn't act like an incumbent in a statistical tie with his Democratic challenger. He was calm, collected, and comfortable discussing cannibalism, The New York Times reports.
Cruz clutched a McDonald's coffee cup as he walked into a glitzy ballroom to address energy executives Tuesday, per the Times. He then took the stage to share what he called his "joyful warrior" approach to this campaign. For example, when Cruz saw a Twitter handle reading "Ted Cruz ate my son," the senator said he "was really tempted to tweet, 'He was delicious.'" But he didn't, because he said he's here to "have fun" and ignore the hate as the midterms approach.
The senator has faced an unexpectedly strong challenge from the progressive Texas Rep. Beto O'Rourke, who's essentially campaigning on the hope that Texans find Cruz too slimy to re-elect. White House budget chief Mick Mulvaney even suggested Cruz might lose because he's not "likable," the Times previously reported.
The Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.
Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
But Cruz said Tuesday that he would rather not respond to "extreme anger and hatred on the other side" — a category that certainly includes accusations of eating other humans. Cruz's "job is to represent 28 million Texans," he said, and he takes it "deadly seriously.”
A free daily email with the biggest news stories of the day – and the best features from TheWeek.com
Kathryn is a graduate of Syracuse University, with degrees in magazine journalism and information technology, along with hours to earn another degree after working at SU's independent paper The Daily Orange. She's currently recovering from a horse addiction while living in New York City, and likes to share her extremely dry sense of humor on Twitter.
-
‘Restaurateurs have become millionaires’Instant Opinion Opinion, comment and editorials of the day
-
Earth is rapidly approaching a ‘hothouse’ trajectory of warmingThe explainer It may become impossible to fix
-
Health insurance: Premiums soar as ACA subsidies endFeature 1.4 million people have dropped coverage
-
NIH director Bhattacharya tapped as acting CDC headSpeed Read Jay Bhattacharya, a critic of the CDC’s Covid-19 response, will now lead the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention
-
Witkoff and Kushner tackle Ukraine, Iran in GenevaSpeed Read Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner held negotiations aimed at securing a nuclear deal with Iran and an end to Russia’s war in Ukraine
-
Pentagon spokesperson forced out as DHS’s resignsSpeed Read Senior military adviser Col. David Butler was fired by Pete Hegseth and Homeland Security spokesperson Tricia McLaughlin is resigning
-
Judge orders Washington slavery exhibit restoredSpeed Read The Trump administration took down displays about slavery at the President’s House Site in Philadelphia
-
Hyatt chair joins growing list of Epstein files losersSpeed Read Thomas Pritzker stepped down as executive chair of the Hyatt Hotels Corporation over his ties with Jeffrey Epstein and Ghislaine Maxwell
-
Judge blocks Hegseth from punishing Kelly over videoSpeed Read Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth pushed for the senator to be demoted over a video in which he reminds military officials they should refuse illegal orders
-
Trump’s EPA kills legal basis for federal climate policySpeed Read The government’s authority to regulate several planet-warming pollutants has been repealed
-
House votes to end Trump’s Canada tariffsSpeed Read Six Republicans joined with Democrats to repeal the president’s tariffs
