Beto O'Rourke has a post-presidential run beard, and Ted Cruz loves it

(Image credit: Beto O'Rourke on Instagram.)

last updated 18 December 2019

It's a well-documented fact that modern presidents cannot have beards.

So after dropping out of the 2020 presidential race, former Texas congressmember Beto O'Rourke has grown a beard as a presumed symbol of his electoral freedom. And Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Texas), the Republican who beat O'Rourke in a battle for Cruz's Senate seat last year, thinks it's pretty cool.

O'Rourke has been hinting at the beginnings of a beard throughout a few Instagram posts, but it really got attention in a Tuesday snap. Cruz soon noticed it on Twitter, and responded with a surprisingly kind comment that was probably actually sarcastic.

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Of course, there's a reason for Cruz's sass — beyond the obvious "you ran against me last year and almost won" fact. After that narrow victory last year, Cruz re-emerged in the Senate with a beard of his own, and it had even his loudest opponents suddenly turning into fans.

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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.