Sen. Ted Cruz (R-TX) is a Princeton University and Harvard Law School graduate who disparages “elites” and asserts that the Democratic Party has abandoned the working class in favor of billionaires, technocrats and Hollywood types.
“If you’re actually talking about a steelworker, if you’re talking about taxi cab drivers, if you’re talking about a waiter or a waitress, the Democrat Party long ago abandoned those workers,” Cruz told TV persona and former “money honey” Maria Bartiromo last week on Fox News’s Sunday Morning Futures.
“Democrats are the party of rich coastal elites,” Cruz claimed, “and Republicans are the party of working-class men and women, blue-collar workers.” he continued.
But despite Cruz’s claims of not caring much for — or associating with — Hollywood elites, the Senator has been all smiles in photos with a few of the brightest stars in the world lately. In France during the anniversary of D-Day earlier this month, Cruz posed with movie star Tom Hanks and director Steven Spielberg, two men whose political views differ greatly from those of the Texas lawmaker.
The Cruz-Hanks-Spielberg photos triggered people on both sides of the aisle. On the right, those who subscribe to Cruz’s contempt for elites and Hollywood were disappointed in the Senator’s fraternizing with the enemy. Left-leaning fans of Hanks and Spielberg were equally dismayed.
In Normandy for the 80th anniversary of D-Day. Ran into Steven Spielberg & @tomhanks, two master story-tellers who have done a beautiful job chronicling the incredible heroism of the Greatest Generation. pic.twitter.com/fVOUdwGf9a
— Ted Cruz (@tedcruz) June 6, 2024
Cruz captioned the photos: “In Normandy for the 80th anniversary of D-Day. Ran into Steven Spielberg & Tom Hanks, two master story-tellers who have done a beautiful job chronicling the incredible heroism of the Greatest Generation.”
He added a series of American flags to his posts, but this attempt at a non-partisan all-American framing for the photo couldn’t seem to lift it above the divisive rhetoric that dominates contemporary dialogue, at least as expressed on social media.
Last week Cruz did it again, posing with perhaps an even more unlikely star — the artist and musical genius David Byrne of Talking Heads fame. Byrne was in Washington to lobby on the subject of musician royalties and met Cruz — who said they had a “great discussion” — on business.
(The opposite of Cruz, Byrne “nods to all the post-millennial pastimes that occupy orthodox celebrity radicals, from tackling climate change to dismantling systemic racism,” as one right-wing journalist asserts.)
In Normandy for the 80th anniversary of D-Day. Ran into Steven Spielberg & @tomhanks, two master story-tellers who have done a beautiful job chronicling the incredible heroism of the Greatest Generation. pic.twitter.com/fVOUdwGf9a
— Ted Cruz (@tedcruz) June 6, 2024
The photo, in which Cruz smiles broadly while Byrne does whatever the opposite of smiling is, drew plenty of commentary — much of it utilizing famous lyrics Byrne wrote during his days with Talking Heads.
Cruz actually started the lyrical reference ball rolling, describing his meeting with Byrne as a “once in a lifetime” opportunity — one of Byrne’s most famous songs is titled “Once in a Lifetime.”
That song’s line “and you may ask yourself, well, how did I get here” was also part of many responses — in some cases it was used as speculation about what Byrne was thinking when the photo was taken. Other commenters, disappointed in the photo op, used it to imply that Byrne had abandoned his principles when he posed with Cruz.
David Byrne finally meets the inspiration behind Psycho Killer.
— Robbie Goodwin (@robbiegoodwin) June 22, 2024
Still others — notably, Cruz is often listed among the most disliked politicians in the U.S. — said Byrne had posed with the model for his famous song “Psycho Killer” and advised the musician to “run run run run run run away” — as the lyric goes.