Ted Cruz dragged for sharing ‘Russian propaganda’ advert and criticising ‘woke’ US military

Ted Cruz seems incapable of using social media without putting his foot in it.

The outspoken US senator, whose 2021 has so far consisted of a stream of never-ending gaffes, decided on Thursday that it would be a good idea to take a pop at the US military, specifically one of their recruitment adverts, which was contrasted with a piece of propaganda for the Russian military.

Cruz retweeted the video – captioned Russian army ad vs US army ad 2021 – which starts with an intimidating and bleak video from Russia, which shows men being put through their paces, before moving onto a much more positive animated American advert about positive inclusion with the US military. There is a stark difference between the two and, although it could be argued that making adverts for the military is weird in the first place, Cruz appeared to prefer the Russian version.

“Holy crap. Perhaps a woke, emasculated military is not the best idea….” wrote the Texan, perhaps without any inclination as to what he was actually sharing.

The US advert is part of a series called The Calling and features Army Cpl. Emma Malonelord who was raised by “two moms” and joined the army to “prove my inner strength.”

Cruz, perhaps not fully taking on board the concept of the advert, faced a fierce backlash for his misguided criticism and for essentially sharing a piece of Russian propaganda. He was also criticised for using the word ‘emasculated’, considering his pandering to former opponent Donald Trump.

Cruz has responded to the criticism. The 50-year-old posted a tweet in response reading: “I’m enjoying lefty blue checkmarks losing their minds over this tweet, dishonestly claiming that I’m “attacking the military.” Uh, no. We have the greatest military on earth, but Dem politicians & woke media are trying to turn them into pansies. The new Dem videos are terrible.”