'Come on, Ted': Brutal political ad pokes fun at Ted Cruz's campaign slogan and reversal with Trump
- A political action committee formed to challenge Republican Sen. Ted Cruz of Texas released a political advertisement that torches his campaign slogan, "Tough as Texas."
- In the ad, actor Sonny Carl Davis sits in a diner and recounts past examples of how Cruz lacked the gumption to forcefully stand up to President Donald Trump's attacks.
- "I mean, come on," Davis said. "If somebody called my wife a dog and said my daddy was in on a Kennedy assassination, I wouldn't be kissing their ass. You stick a finger in their chest and give 'em a few choice words."
A political action committee formed to challenge Republican Sen. Ted Cruz of Texas released a political advertisement that torches his campaign slogan, "Tough as Texas."
In the ad, actor Sonny Carl Davis sits in a diner and recounts past examples of how Cruz lacked the gumption to forcefully stand up to President Donald Trump's attacks.
Trump has endorsed Cruz ahead of the November midterm election. The incumbent is in a tight race with Democratic candidate Rep. Beto O'Rourke.
"I mean come on," Davis said. "If somebody called my wife a dog and said my daddy was in on a Kennedy assassination, I wouldn't be kissing their ass. You stick a finger in their chest and give 'em a few choice words."
"Or you drag their ass out by the woodshed and kicked their ass, Ted," Davis added. "Come on, Ted."
Cruz and Trump lobbed bitter epithets at each other during the contentious 2016 Republican presidential primaries. At one point, Trump made the uncorroborated claim that Ted Cruz's father, Rafael Cruz, was associated with Lee Harvey Oswald, the man accused of assassinating President John F. Kennedy.
Trump also shared a picture that denigrated Cruz's wife, Heidi. The Texas senator, who famously refused to endorse Trump at the Republican National Convention, told supporters to "vote your conscience."
"I am not in the habit of supporting people who attack my wife and attack my father," Cruz said in July 2016. "That pledge was not a blanket commitment that if you go and slander my wife that I am going to come like a servile puppy dog for maligning my wife and maligning my father."
Two months later, Cruz endorsed Trump, citing his "support the Republican nominee" and the "wholly unacceptable" outcome of a potential Hillary Clinton presidency.
Trump has since endorsed Cruz's campaign and agreed to headline a rally in October: "I'm picking the biggest stadium in Texas we can find," Trump said in a tweet in August.
The ad, funded by Fire Ted Cruz Political Action Committee (FTC PAC), was directed by Richard Linklater. The FTC PAC says on its website that it intends to "make sure that more Texas voters know more about Ted Cruz's awful record."