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Joe Biden was tasked with giving the first non-bombastic, non-anxiety-inducing State of the Union speech in four years, and he succeeded with flying colors. He spoke quietly yet passionately. He talked up vaccinations. He talked about expanding education, giving federal money to pre-K schooling and community college. He uttered the words, “White supremacy is terrorism.” He praised America for rejecting the failed MAGA coup of Jan. 6 right off the bat. And he did it all in 71 minutes, without ever airing an epic list of grievances or shouting uncontrollably.
Throughout it all, Republicans kept schtum. Sometimes they applauded, but most of the time they sat in their seats and scowled through masks some of them may not have wanted to wear in the first place. One of them was Ted Cruz, one of the cheerleaders of the Jan. 6 tragedy. When the telecast cut to him, he was frozen and silent. But at one point his body must have rejected the inactivity, because it appeared he dozed off.
Ted Cruz appears to be dozing off pic.twitter.com/nFva4LBCkj
— Aaron Rupar (@atrupar) April 29, 2021
And so Cruz — one of the most dunkable lawmakers in Congress, on top of being one of its most dangerous — became the butt of a lot of social media jokes. Indeed, most had the same joke: That the man who battled a natural disaster in his congressional state of Texas by fleeing to warmer climes was just imagining himself in lovely Cancún.
dreaming about cancun… pic.twitter.com/rYzNObA16K
— Oliver Willis (@owillis) April 29, 2021
Dreaming of the sun and beaches of Cancun . pic.twitter.com/W2JnQT2vfm
— Ana Navarro-Cárdenas (@ananavarro) April 29, 2021
… and visions of margaritas danced through Senator Cancun’s head. #Sad #TexasDeservesBetter pic.twitter.com/bx12WuayHt
— Jaime Harrison, DNC Chair (@harrisonjaime) April 29, 2021
Ted Cruz’s reactions show that he is against lowering prescription drug prices and for anybody being able to own an assault weapon. Now he’s falling asleep about immigration, dreaming about Cancun.
— Pete Souza (@PeteSouza) April 29, 2021
It can’t all be Cancun, Ted https://t.co/edNpxYM458
— Molly Jong-Fast (@MollyJongFast) April 29, 2021
Ted Cruz spend too much time partying in Cancun that he can’t stay awake?
— RealHousewifeOfMichigan (@RealHousewifeMi) April 29, 2021
he’s resting from his long flight back from Cancun pic.twitter.com/03pjYZwA3s
— Benji (@benjiowa) April 29, 2021
when you wish you were in cancun pic.twitter.com/m2RCWZygXZ
— God (@thegoodgodabove) April 29, 2021
Daydreaming about being in Cancun and screwing his constituents over again. pic.twitter.com/ZzhLcUEbqa
— Strudel Toast (@FactsPonder) April 29, 2021
Wake up @tedcruz Dreaming of Cancun again??? pic.twitter.com/625736jsTa
— dtmeihls (@dtmeihls) April 29, 2021
When Biden is talking about passing laws instead of Cancun pic.twitter.com/q92J8irLjp
— The Gregory Brothers (@gregorybrothers) April 29, 2021
Earlier in the day, Cruz tried to start some stuff with The Daily Show. They pelted him with a similar joke. So when they saw him snoozing, they drummed up another.
Gross pic.twitter.com/PYzxTBpfYq
— The Daily Show (@TheDailyShow) April 29, 2021
It’s a joke that will likely follow Cruz throughout his life. If he’s not going to be drummed out of Congress for his behavior on Jan. 6, he might as well be forever insulted.
