Discussing the weather is typically seen as a safe topic of conversation, but apparently not for Senator Ted Cruz (R-Texas).
The slick Texas Republican retweeted a photo that appeared to show a shark in the flooded waters of the 405 freeway in Los Angeles. However, it turned out to be a modified version of a hoax photo that has been circulating on the internet since at least 2011, as confirmed by Snopes.
“Holy crap,” exclaimed the senator on X, formerly Twitter. Tropical storm Hilary tore through Southern California on Sunday evening, causing flooded roads, mudslides, and widespread power outages. However, there have been no reports of shark sightings.
Some people were not fooled and quickly provided the truth behind the tweet. A note was added to Cruz’s tweet informing readers that the doctored image originated from a photo showing a shark trailing a kayaker from a 2005 article in Africa Geographic.
Others were quick to point out the senator’s limited critical thinking abilities.
Cruz eventually admitted that he had fallen for a hoax but tried to shift the blame by suggesting that it was because the photo was supposedly from Los Angeles.
However, this did not help his case, especially after the person who posted the tweet that fooled Cruz doubled down and shared another fake photo of sharks swimming in a flooded mall.
Cruz has a poor track record when it comes to commenting on weather events.
This has been evident since February 2021 when the senator left his fellow Texans to endure record-cold temperatures and power outages while he vacationed in sunny and warm Cancun, Mexico.
Cruz faced significant criticism for his actions, which ultimately forced him to return to Texas promptly.
Denial of responsibility! VigourTimes is an automatic aggregator of Global media. In each content, the hyperlink to the primary source is specified. All trademarks belong to their rightful owners, and all materials to their authors. For any complaint, please reach us at – [email protected]. We will take necessary action within 24 hours.
