Ted Cruz Tweets ‘Many Liberal Males Never Grow Balls’

Texas’ Sen. Ted Cruz shocked his Twitter followers on Friday with an explicit post about his political rivals. Cruz quote-tweeted a post about The Daily Show’s recent segment on gender-reveal parties, adding that “many liberal males never grow balls.” The tweet caused a firestorm on social media over the weekend, especially following the other headlines about Cruz this week.

The Daily Show host Trevor Noah did a segment on gender reveal parties this week after officials confirmed that an explosive stunt at one such party caused a catastrophic wildfire in California. Noah noted that, while gender-reveal parties are a relatively new trend, their treatment of gender identity is getting “outdated.” Cruz retweeted an article from The Daily Wire that mocked this sentiment, adding his jeers to the conversation.

While Cruz made light of considerations for transgender and non-binary Americans, Noah did not try to argue the facts with him. Instead, he retorted: “Remind me Senator are balls the things you had when Trump destroyed you, insulted your wife’s face, said your dad killed JFK, hijacked your party and all you did was kiss his ass??”

Both tweets went viral this weekend, sparking outrage all along the political spectrum and drawing harsh criticism from members of the LGBTQ+ community. The incident also led to a surge in the sharing of informative content about gender identity on social media. The latest edition of the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders still classifies gender dysphoria as a mental disorder, although a growing number of scientists are now calling for it to be recategorized, just as homosexuality had to be recategorized in the past.

Still, Cruz continues to mock variances in gender identity as a way of mocking his political rivals on Twitter. Before this week, his most recent joke on the subject was from March, falsely claiming that Sen. Bernie Sanders “identifies as every gender, simultaneously.”

Political analysts were surprised to see Cruz cracking these offensive jokes this week, however, after President Donald Trump announced that Cruz was on his shortlist for possible Supreme Court Justices. According to a report by NBC News, Trump is preparing candidates to take over the judicial branch if any current members pass away or resign, and Cruz is among 20 lawmakers he is considering.

While Cruz openly supports Trump these days, the two have often butted heads — particularly in the 2016 presidential election. At the time, Trump publicly threatened to “spill the beans” on Cruz’s wife, then later posted a photo of Heidi Cruz beside Melania Trump, attacking her appearance. Critics of Cruz have long wondered how he can support Trump now after this incident just a few years ago.