Ted Cruz Rages At Reports Iran Is ‘Explicitly Threatening to Murder Trump’

President Donald Trump speaks to reporters while in flight on Air Force One to Joint Base Andrews, Md., Sunday, Jan. 11, 2026. (AP Photo/Julia Demaree Nikhinson)

Sen. Ted Cruz (R-TX) and other close allies of President Donald Trump fumed on Wednesday after reporters went around that Iranian state TV broadcast an image threatening to assassinate the president.

Agence France-Presse (AFP) reported on the image of the 2024 Butler rally assassination attempt on President Trump that included the caption, “This time it will not miss the target.” The New York Post quickly pushed out a viral story headlined, “Iran issues sickening assassination threat against Trump.”

Cruz shared the image and wrote, “Iran explicitly threatening to murder Trump. Tucker—whose podcast the Ayatollah is currently playing in Persian all across Iran—insists that Iran has never done this.” Cruz referenced Tucker Carlson in his post as the two have long feuded over Trump’s previous strikes against Iran, which Carlson vehemently opposed and warned would lead to World War III. Trump is currently weighing military action against Iran in response to its mass killing of pro-democracy protestors in the country. Trump has repeatedly threatened to attack the Iranian regime in recent days if it killed protestors.

Fox host Mark Levin also shared the image and wrote, “Iranian regime threatening to assassinate our President and making clear they’ve tried before! It’s time to deal with this. I’m sure we will.”

Below are some additional reactions:

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