Senator Ted Cruz is known for broadcasting unpopular opinions on Twitter which often lead to feuds. But when he took a not-so-subtle shot at ‘Star Wars’ characters, actress Daisy Ridley – the star of the new trilogy – decided to strike back.
Earlier this month, the Texas Republican defended Gina Carano, who lost her role on the series ‘The Mandalorian' over her ‘abhorrent’ social media posts:
"Texan Gina Carano broke barriers in the Star Wars universe: not a princess, not a victim, not some emotionally tortured Jedi," tweeted Cruz.
Cruz added that Carano's character, Cara Dune, "kicked ass & who girls looked up to. She was instrumental in making Star Wars fun again. Of course Disney canceled her."
His comments have been widely interpreted to be in reference to Princess Leia, played by Carrie Fisher, Padme Amidala, played by Natalie Portman, and Rey – played by Ridley.
On Wednesday, speaking with Yahoo! Entertainment, Ridley was asked about Cruz’s tweet – which she had not yet been aware of (fair that she is not reading a US senator’s subtweets).
"I am happy to be an 'emotionally tortured Jedi,'” Ridley said, "Who doesn't leave their state when it's having a terrible time."
The scorching response is in reference to Cruz’s last-minute daily vacation to Mexico while his home state was ravaged by widespread power outages and water shortages.
Social media users called the comeback “incredible” and “legendary”. One person wrote directly to ted Cruz: “you just got roasted by an actual jedi”.
“God forbid a character have some internal depth and complexity to them. I’m glad Daisy stood up for Rey,” another added.
One person, however, was thankful for Cruz’s commentary and that was Gina Carano herself (who is also a Texan).
Either way, the ‘Star Wars’ issues seems to be ignoring the emergency at hand. As one person wrote, “Imagine Ted devoting his time and effort into helping the people of his state during a crisis, instead of picking fights with celebrities online.”
They added, “Nah, I can’t either.”