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Ted Cruz slammed for going maskless at Bob Dole's funeral

'@tedcruz were you born a thoughtless a**hole or was it acquired?' a Twitter user asked

Republican Ted Cruz attended Senator Bob Dole's funeral on December 10 without a mask on, despite everyone around him wearing one. He was pictured seated next to Amy Klobuchar who was diagnosed with breast cancer following which she received radiation treatment earlier this year. "Maskless Ted Cruz putting cancer patient Amy Klobuchar’s vax and mask to the test," political strategist and Nancy Pelosi's daughter Christine wrote on Twitter.

Cruz has been trolled several times this year, including the time when Texans were struggling with a raging winter storm and record-low temperatures. He was photographed at the airport to catch a flight to Cancun for a family vacation. Millions in the state were left without power as the state's electric grid operator lost control of the power supply when photos of him "fleeing Texas" surfaced. His dog Snowflake was photographed in the window of his home and the Internet ripped Cruz apart for leaving the pet behind. It was later clarified that Snowflake was left in the care of an attendant and wasn't alone. Cruz shifted the blame of his Cancun trip on his daughters saying he was just being a "good dad", further stoking the flames of social media hatred. 

Is Ted Cruz vaccinated?

In November, right-leaning Senator Cruz along with other right-wingers slammed 'Sesame Street' character Big Bird for encouraging parents to consider vaccinating their kids against Covid-19. In a tweet, Big Bird wrote, "I got the Covid-19 vaccine today! My wing is feeling a little sore, but it’ll give my body an extra protective boost that keeps me and others healthy. [CNN reporter] Erica Hill even said I’ve been getting vaccines since I was a little bird. I had no idea!” Cruz branded this as "government propaganda... for your 5-year-old!" 

Cruz ditched the face mask sometime in April this year and began appearing at the Capitol complex and the Senate floor without one. "At this point, I've been vaccinated. Everybody working in the Senate has been vaccinated," he told CNN despite CDC's instructions for everyone to wear a face mask, vaccinated or not. In February, he had complained to the Conservative Political Action Conference that Americans were going to be forced into wearing masks for the "next 300 years". He added, "Not just one mask, two three, four. You can't have too many masks. How much virtue do you want to signal? This is just dumb."

Coming back to his recent appearance at Dole's funeral, the Internet is brimming with backlash against the Senator. "@tedcruz were you born a thoughtless a**hole or was it acquired?" wrote one. "Such disregard for everyone at the ceremony as you try to prove that you are the biggest ass hole in dc. Wear a mask, at least out of respect fat Teddy," another tweet read. "Ted Cruz is such a phony! Did he care about lives lost when he went to sunny Cancun while people froze? Does he care about lives that are being lost in Texas due to Covid? What a hypocritical jerk," a third tweeted. 

"Ted Cruz, your going maskless to Bob Dole's funeral ~ a publicity stunt surrounded by vulnerable elderly people ~ shows what a pathetic, selfish, self-centered, childish, narcissistic, petty, publicity-hungry douchelord you are. PS: You look less repulsive in a mask. #HotDogTeddy" wrote an irate user. "Can we sue anti-vaxxer’s in Texas now? Would it be ok to sue Ted Cruz every time he shows up without a mask? This is about preserving life," asked another. Political satirist Jeremy Newberger tweeted, "If Ted Cruz thought it would get even more press attention he would have hopped up on Bob Dole’s coffin and done a striptease down to his Jesse Helms Underoos."