Colleagues Prank Cruz At Senate Gym With Meme Printouts Mocking Cancun Getaway

CANCUN, MEXICO - FEBRUARY 18: Sen. Ted Cruz (R-TX) checks in for a flight at Cancun International Airport after a backlash over his Mexican family vacation as his home state of Texas endured a Winter storm on Februar... CANCUN, MEXICO - FEBRUARY 18: Sen. Ted Cruz (R-TX) checks in for a flight at Cancun International Airport after a backlash over his Mexican family vacation as his home state of Texas endured a Winter storm on February 18, 2021 in Cancun, Quintana Roo, Mexico. The Republican politician came under fire after leaving for the warm holiday destination as hundreds of thousands of people in the lone star state suffered a loss of power. Reports stated that Cruz was due to catch a flight back to Houston, Texas. (Photo by MEGA/GC Images) MORE LESS
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Memes of a vacation-ready Sen. Ted Cruz (R-TX) littered the Senate locker room on Wednesday, teasing of the GOP lawmaker’s now infamous (albeit truncated) escape to Cancun after his state was walloped by a winter storm that left millions without power or running water, NBC News reported on Friday.

Two people familiar with the prank told NBC News that lockers in a gym used only by current and former senators had been plastered on Wednesday with printouts of a meme that featured a beach-ready Cruz dressed in a short-sleeve polo shirt, jeans and the Texas-flag mask he donned when he was spotted at the airport en route to his Mexican getaway last week. 

It is not clear whether Cruz, who returned early from the trip and called it a “mistake,” saw the papered gym prank.

“Bienvenido de Nuevo, Ted!” was the taunting return message typed atop the color printouts, NBC News reported.

The meme featured a manipulated photo of Cruz dragging his luggage across an arctic landscape while holding a tropical cocktail garnished with a slice of fruit. The ridiculed senator is shown in the printout walking toward the now viral image of a masked Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-VT) sitting with arms and legs crossed that was taken at last month’s inauguration.

The memes were taken down sometime Wednesday, sources said.

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Notable Replies

  1. Avatar for trnc trnc says:

    What, no “I helped plan an insurrection, and all I got was this lousy t-shirt covered in the blood of Capitol Police Officers” t-shirts?

  2. It takes a village to make a joke.

  3. I really don’t need anyone needling Cruz right now, what I need is for them to get to work. And besides this is so childish and chicken.

  4. ha ha ha look at our printouts about how Cruz embarrassed himself in the midst of a huge, deadly, and avoidable infrastructure collapse that presages the horrors that await if we don’t address climate change seriously even at the last minute. God we slay us.

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