Gamer Ted Cruz Claims He’s Reached the 217th Level of Candy Crush

Despite what you may think, We Are Watchmen’s rap song in support of Ted Cruz‘s bid for the presidency in 2016 isn’t the only manner in which the Republican senator from Texas is trying to appear “hip.” Turns out the noted Tea Party practitioner is also an avid gamer.

“I don’t have a console, mostly as a time management tool,” Cruz explains in an interview with The Daily Beast. “If I had one, I would use it far too much.”

According to Cruz, his love of video games is as old as Pong — the classic arcade game that helped birth early home consoles like the first Atari and Nintendo products. As the senator puts it, he still remembers “the Christmas we got our first Pong game.”

But don’t let Cruz’s attempts to garner the gamer vote fool you. While he and college roommate David Panton claim to have spent much of their downtime at Princeton and Harvard Law on “all-nighters spent on Super Mario Brothers and Japanese fighting games,” the hopeful contender for the GOP presidential ticket doesn’t do that much gaming these days.

In fact, all Cruz can manage is the occasional bout of gameplay on Candy Crush. Though that’s probably a good marketing play for the votes of retirees and grandparents across the country. He even boasts he’s reached the 217th level.

[h/t The Daily Beast]
[Image via Shutterstock]

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