TEXAS, USA — Texas Sen. Ted Cruz and late-night talk show host Jimmy Kimmel are in "a squabble" – as Kimmel put it – after Cruz retweeted of a side-by-side comparison of a Russian military recruitment ad and a recent U.S. Army ad based on the real-life story of a female soldier who was raised by two moms.
"Holy crap. Perhaps a woke, emasculated military is not the best idea....," Cruz tweeted.
In response to the tweet, Kimmel mocked Cruz on his Monday show for the criticism Cruz received online for his comments. Round Rock native MJ Hegar was among many public officials to ridicule Cruz for his tweet.
“Ted Cruz, who four years ago took permanent residence up the a** of a man who beat him in every election by calling his wife ugly and slandering his elderly father—says this is emasculating,” Kimmel joked, referring to Cruz. “Primarily because Ted Cruz is not human—he’s a moist, gelatinous tubeworm whose elastic band pants are filled with an inky discharge every time he speaks.”
Cruz responded to Kimmel's mockery, tweeting "@JimmyKimmelLive keeps talking crap. Really tough guy. Here’s a reminder, when we played one-on-one, I kicked his ass. He has to live with that...forever. Rematch, punk?"
This is not the first time the two have crossed paths.
In 2018, Kimmel and Cruz played a one-on-one charity basketball game that Kimmel dubbed the "Blobfish Basketball Classic." This "squabble" – much like this military ad interaction – was born of a joke from Kimmel, who'd said the Republican senator resembled the ocean bottom-dwelling blobfish. Cruz responded by challenging Kimmel to a basketball game.
Kimmel spent a significant portion of his monologue talking about his Twitter exchange with Cruz over the controversial tweet. He went on to call Cruz "a guy who let Donald Trump use his testicles on the driving range” and "Trump’s Theon Greyjoy," referring to the "Game of Thrones" character.
Kimmel also referred to the senator as "Teddy Cancun." Cruz also caught criticism in February after he flew to Cancun with his family in the midst of the winter storms hitting Texas. Cruz joked a few weeks later at a CPAC appearance in Florida, saying "I gotta say, Orlando is awesome! It's not as nice as Cancun, but it's nice."
You can watch the the full monologue here:
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