Ted Cruz Says His Twitter Account 'Liked' Porn Due to 'Staffing Issue'
Senator Ted Cruz of Texas has responded to the wave of jokes and criticism from social media regarding his Twitter account's recent liking of a pornography link.
The former Republican presidential candidate released a statement Tuesday in response to the controversy, explaining that it was a mistake committed by a staffer.
"It was a staffing issue, and it was inadvertent, it was a mistake, it was not a deliberate action," stated Sen. Cruz, as quoted by CBS News.
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"There were a number of people on the team that have access to the account, and it appears that someone inadvertently hit the 'like' button."
Cruz went on to joke about the situation, remarking that last year he should have posted "something like this back during the Indiana primary."
Earlier this week, one of Cruz's Twitter accounts liked a post by @SexuallPosts, which featured a pornographic video. It was about an hour until the post was un-liked.
"It's unclear if Cruz liked the video himself, or if it was the late-night work of an aide that manages his social media presence," reported The Verge on Tuesday morning.
"Nevertheless, Ted Cruz quickly became a trending topic and the butt of a raging internet joke machine. The last time Cruz reached this level of popularity on Twitter was when the internet wondered aloud if Cruz was the unidentified Zodiac Killer."
Hours after the clip was liked, Cruz spokesperson Catherine Frazier tweeted in the predawn hours that the "offensive tweet posted on @tedcruz account earlier has been removed by staff and reported to Twitter."
Nevertheless, a large number of tweets poking fun at the outspoken Texas Senator were posted on the social media site.
"Congratulations to Ted Cruz for surpassing 'It' as the creepiest thing millions of people saw this week," posted an account going by the name "Half An Onion."
"I think I'd like Ted Cruz better if he admitted to having 'liked' the porn tweet himself. It would provide at least some proof of normalcy," tweeted Telemundo contributor Ana Navarro.
