Senator Ted Cruz, on the eve of Israel’s 77th Independence Day, dropped a tweet that will definitely say earned the replies expected. The Texas Republican posted a message with his wife, Heidi, wishing Israel a happy Independence Day while reaffirming his full support for the country. ‘When Israel is strong, America and the world are strong,’ Cruz said. ‘I will always stand unequivocally and unapologetically with Israel, our friend and ally.’
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But if Cruz thought this was going to be a touchy-feely bipartisan moment, boy, was he wrong. The replies section became a full-blown warzone before you could say ‘USS Liberty.’ Yep, that stain of war from across the ocean flashed itself into the replies almost instantly, with one user bluntly declaring ‘USS LIBERTY. REMEMBER,’ a not-so-subtle reference to the infamous 1967 attack on a U.S. Navy ship by Israeli forces. And that was just the opening shot.
Cruz found himself quickly schooled. ‘I wish you cared this much about Texas,’ read one clapback, while another user straight-up told him to ‘go move there and get out of our country.’ Ouch. The general mood was that Cruz is more invested in Israel than in the welfare of the residents among whom he lives, and this prompted one person to call him a ‘traitor’ for their foreign aid dollars going to Israel instead of domestic issues.
Then came accusations of hypocrisy, particularly in relation to Cruz’s Christian faith. One comment noted the irony of a ‘Christian unequivocally standing with people that unequivocally deny Jesus as the Messiah.’ To really get things heated up, there was also a Bible verse quote (Genesis 12:2-3) to highlight that taxpayer funding of Israel isn’t quite the same thing as a ‘blessing.’ Theologically… unexpected, but decidedly on-brand for Twitter.
Well, no political tweets could end without the stuff of old insult. Cruz-on was tagged with such names as ‘genocidal lowlife Zionist’, ‘terrorist supporter’ and, well, just plain ‘moron’. One particularly spicy reply actually berated Israel as ‘disgusting’ and wished that its ‘enemies win’, which is… quite the take.
Not all was hate woven into this particular tapestry, though. Some real supporters came on to say: ‘I am with you on this.’ Short, sweet, and vastly outnumbered. For the most part, all the rejoinders were complaints, if not downright hostile. Multiple users accused Israel of being built on ‘stolen land’ while accusing Cruz of enabling ‘genocide.’ One even warned him that justice awaits him at the International Criminal Court in comparison with Nazi leadership. Yikes.
We have conspiracy theories. One woman said in her Adamic rant that Texas was celebrating ‘Muslim May and Pakistani Day’ and added that Texas was ‘bringing such a nation to the level of aiding and abetting terrorists’. This comment just came out of nowhere, but Twitter will be Twitter.
Arguably the harshest comeback, however, involved Cruz’s campaign finance records, casting aspersions on the idea that his love for Israel does not come with a hefty price tag. Alongside a screenshot of donations from pro-Israel groups, the tweet read, ‘Cruz has $1.87 million reasons to love Israel.’ Oof.
Yes, indeed. Ted Cruz’s bad feel-good tweet plunged sharply downwards. From USS Liberty to outright treason to just plain old anger, one thing is sure people have opinions about Cruz’s take on Israel. And they haven’t exactly been withholding.
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At this rate, one should wonder whether Cruz expected anything less. Perhaps next time, he might tweet about barbecue, something a little less incendiary. Or something. This is Ted Cruz, after all.
