Ted Cruz Roasted After Falling for Commonly Known Disaster Pic Hoax: ‘If He Falls For This…’
Social media users roasted Sen. Ted Cruz (R-TX) for apparently believing a decade-old hoax, then failing to delete it from his X account. The tweet in question included a photo of what looked like a shark swimming along a flooded highway with Cruz’s declaration of “Holy crap.”
The 2023 version of the photo came from Dan Katz with Barstool Sports, whose X handle is “Big Cat.” He posted, “Friend of mine out in LA just took this picture on the 405. And yes, all news and media outlets you have permission to use this. Wild.”
The joke post came as Southern California grappled with flash flooding courtesy of tropical storm Hilary that hit the area over the weekend, and earned a community note from the X-verse.
“The photo originally appeared in 2011, after Hurricane Irene hit Puerto Rico. The hoax also made the rounds in 2015 after Texas was hit with heavy rains, in 2016 during Hurricane Matthew and again in 2017 after Hurricane Harvey,” read the note, which included a link to a Snopes article from 2011 that stated, “A much-repurposed photograph of a shark swimming down a flooded highway after a hurricane is a fake.”
Cruz later posted his own disclaimer: “I’m told this is a joke. In LA, you never know… 🤷🏻♂️ And everyone please stay safe from the storm or otherwise.”
Big Cat then doubled down on his own gag: “Wait who said it was a joke? It’s a shark on a highway. It’s real as real could be. Look I also have a shark in a mall. #Hurricane #Real #PleaseCredit”
Cruz’s apparent gullibility caused journalist Molly Jong-Fast to ponder, “If he falls for this think of all the other things Ted Cruz falls for,” while writer David Weissman posted, “This man is a Senator.”
https://twitter.com/davidmweissman/status/1693640771079995668
Mashable published a “history of the hoax that will not end” in 2017 and even tracked down the original shark photo.
“The shark in this photograph is indeed real, but the shark swimming through a flooded highway is fake. The shark was initially captured by renowned National Geographic photographer Thomas P. Peschak off the coast of South Africa over 10 years ago,” Mashable wrote.
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