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Ted Cruz

Ted Cruz

Ted Cruz is a U.S. Senator from Texas, first elected in 2012. Cruz also was a candidate for president of the United States in 2016. He is the former solicitor general for the state of Texas, previously serving as the director of the Office of Policy Planning at the Federal Trade Commission, an Associate Deputy Attorney General at the U.S. Department of Justice, and as a domestic policy advisor on the 2000 Bush-Cheney campaign, according to his campaign biography.

Ted Cruz Website

Scorecard

true

0% 9 Checks

mostly true

0% 22 Checks

half true

0% 21 Checks

mostly false

0% 48 Checks

false

0% 49 Checks

Pants on Fire

0% 11 Checks

For more details, see the Principles of PolitiFact

Latest Fact-Checks By Ted Cruz

Clear

Ted Cruz
stated on October 19, 2025 in an X post:

Democrats are “dishonestly sending around a video from 2017” claiming it was an Oct. 18 ‘No Kings’ rally in Boston.

False

By Louis Jacobson, Loreben Tuquero • October 20, 2025

Ted Cruz
stated on November 6, 2023 in An interview on CNBC:

“We produce a lot more wind energy in Texas than California does.”

True

By Sarah Bahari • November 14, 2023

Ted Cruz
stated on August 30, 2023 in A post on X.:

"(President Joe) Biden is trying to limit you to two beers per week.”

False

By Sarah Bahari • September 1, 2023

Ted Cruz
stated on May 17, 2023 in a speech at the Hudson Institute:

Barack Obama said that Iran has a “right” to nuclear technology, including weapons.

Mostly False

By Sarah Bahari • June 13, 2023

Ted Cruz
stated on October 27, 2022 in a tweet:

Only Democratic cities take “‘days’ to count their votes” while “the rest of the country manages to get it done on election night.”

Mostly False

By Amy Sherman, Louis Jacobson • October 28, 2022

Ted Cruz
stated on June 4, 2022 in a tweet:

"The impact of President Biden being beholden to the Green New Deal radicals in his party has electricity costs through the roof in Texas."

False

By Nusaiba Mizan • June 21, 2022

Ted Cruz
stated on May 26, 2022 in an interview with Fox News:

In 2013, under a Democratic Senate, "a majority of the Senate voted in favor of" gun-related legislation sponsored by Republican Sens. Chuck Grassley and Ted Cruz, “but the Democrats filibustered it.”

Half-True

By Louis Jacobson • May 27, 2022

Ted Cruz
stated on May 24, 2022 in remarks to the media:

“We know from past experiences that the most effective tool for keeping kids safe is armed law enforcement on the campus.”

False

By Madison Czopek • May 26, 2022

Ted Cruz
stated on February 16, 2022 in a committee meeting:

"In 2020, more journalists were killed in Mexico than in any other country in the world."

True

By Nusaiba Mizan • February 28, 2022

Ted Cruz
stated on August 4, 2021 in an interview:

“In the last several months, the Biden administration has released over 7,000 illegal aliens who were COVID positive just in one Texas city.” Biden's border policies are "endangering not just the people of Texas, but people all across the country."

False

By Brandon Mulder • September 3, 2021

Ted Cruz
stated on July 13, 2021 in an interview:

"There is clear legal authority to handcuff and put in leg irons legislators that are trying to stop the legislature from being able to do business."

False

By Brandon Mulder • July 16, 2021

Ted Cruz
stated on May 11, 2021 in a meeting:

The voting rights bill “would register millions of illegal aliens to vote. It is intended to do that.”

Pants on Fire!

By Brandon Mulder • May 14, 2021

Ted Cruz
stated on April 22, 2021 in a press conference:

“You didn't see Republicans when we had control of the Senate try to rig the game.”

False

By Brandon Mulder, Louis Jacobson • April 27, 2021

Ted Cruz
stated on January 9, 2021 in a tweet:

Said Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez and her allies “blocked a resolution condemning anti-Semitism — which I passed unanimously in the Senate.”

Mostly False

By Landon Allison, Julia Schneider • February 18, 2021

Ted Cruz
stated on January 6, 2021 in a speech on the Senate floor:

“39% of Americans … 31% of independents ... 17% of Democrats believe the election was rigged."

Mostly False

By Miriam Valverde • January 6, 2021

Ted Cruz
stated on December 15, 2020 in a tweet:

Says that guidance urging vaccinated people to avoid travel and continue wearing masks is "profoundly anti-science."

Pants on Fire!

By Brandon Mulder • December 18, 2020

Ted Cruz
stated on November 5, 2020 in a Fox News interview:

Philadelphia is “clouding the vote counting in a shroud of darkness.”

False

By Bill McCarthy • November 6, 2020

Ted Cruz
stated on October 26, 2020 in an interview:

Says Trump “didn’t campaign on cutting the debt” … “That’s not what he promised to do.”

False

By Brandon Mulder • October 30, 2020

Ted Cruz
stated on February 24, 2020 in a speech:

Says Democrats are embracing “abortion up until the moment of birth and even, horrifically, after that.”

False

By Madlin Mekelburg • February 27, 2020

Ted Cruz
stated on December 8, 2019 in a TV interview:

"Ukraine blatantly interfered in our election."

False

By Madlin Mekelburg • December 12, 2019

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Latest Fact-Checks About Ted Cruz

Facebook posts
stated on July 15, 2023 in a Facebook post:

Video shows Sen. Ted Cruz asking the Supreme Court to file charges against an aide to Attorney General Merrick Garland.

False

By Ciara O'Rourke • July 17, 2023

Facebook posts
stated on April 10, 2023 in a Facebook post:

Video shows Sen. Chris Murphy running away because Sen. Ted Cruz said “just shut your mouth.”

Mostly False

By Ciara O'Rourke • April 12, 2023

Facebook posts
stated on January 29, 2023 in a Facebook post:

Video shows Congress “erupting” over U.S. Sen. Ted Cruz’s remarks.

False

By Ciara O'Rourke • January 31, 2023

Facebook posts
stated on January 23, 2023 in a Facebook post:

Video shows Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez crying after “Ted Cruz gets up and humiliates her to her face.”

False

By Ciara O'Rourke • January 26, 2023

Facebook posts
stated on August 16, 2022 in a Facebook post:

“Ted Cruz erupts as FBI director tries to defend Biden over Mar-a-Lago raid” in video.

False

By Ciara O'Rourke • August 18, 2022

Facebook posts
stated on August 8, 2022 in a Facebook post:

“Ted Cruz leaks new document obtained from Hunter’s laptop implicating Nancy Pelosi.”

False

By Ciara O'Rourke • August 9, 2022

Viral image
stated on February 19, 2021 in a Facebook post:

Says Ted Cruz tweeted, “I’ll believe in climate change when Texas freezes over.”

False

By Ciara O'Rourke • February 19, 2021

Occupy Democrats
stated on March 12, 2020 in a Facebook post:

Says Rep. Matt Gaetz and Sen. Ted Cruz took two weeks paid sick leave to self-quarantine. Gaetz “voted in 2013 to make it illegal for any city in Florida to enact paid sick leave,” and Cruz “voted in 2015 in the U.S. Senate against paid sick leave.”

Half-True

By Amy Sherman • March 17, 2020

Beto O'Rourke
stated on October 16, 2018 in a debate televised from San Antonio:

Says "only one other senator from either party over the last 25 years" has "a worse record on bipartisanship" than Ted Cruz.

True

By W. Gardner Selby • October 18, 2018

Donald Trump
stated on June 22, 2016 in a campaign rally in Cleveland:

Says Ted Cruz "never denied" his father was photographed with Lee Harvey Oswald.

Pants on Fire!

By Dylan Baddour • July 22, 2016

Donald Trump
stated on May 3, 2016 in an interview on Fox News:

Says Ted Cruz’s father "was with Lee Harvey Oswald" before the assassination of President John F. Kennedy.

Pants on Fire!

By Louis Jacobson, Linda Qiu • May 3, 2016

Great America PAC
stated on March 31, 2016 in a TV ad:

Says Ted Cruz "wanted to let in more Syrian refugees and give amnesty to illegal immigrants."

Half-True

By Tom Kertscher • April 22, 2016

Donald Trump
stated on April 20, 2016 in a tweet:

"Ted Cruz is mathematically out of winning the race."

Mostly True

By Linda Qiu • April 20, 2016

New Day for America
stated on March 31, 2016 in a television ad.:

"Many just call him 'Lyin' Ted.' ... His TV ad about John Kasich? Lie! Stations had to pull it off the air."

False

By C. Eugene Emery Jr. • April 6, 2016

Donald Trump
stated on March 29, 2016 in an interview on CNN:

Says Ted Cruz distributed the ad showing a nude Melania Trump on a rug.

False

By C. Eugene Emery Jr. • March 31, 2016

Romney allies
stated on March 18, 2016 in The New York Times:

Mitt Romney did not "endorse" Ted Cruz, even though he said he is voting for Cruz and urged others to do likewise.

Half-True

By Jim Tharpe • March 24, 2016

Marco Rubio
stated on February 2, 2016 in an interview in Bow, N.H.:

"Ted Cruz defended a Chinese company that stole an invention from an American inventor."

Mostly True

By Jonathan Van Fleet • February 7, 2016

Marco Rubio
stated on January 14, 2016 in Republican presidential debate in North Charleston, S.C.:

Under Ted Cruz’s tax plan, "businesses will now have to pay 16 percent on the money they make. They will also have to pay 16 percent on the money they pay their employees."

Mostly True

By W. Gardner Selby • January 26, 2016

Marco Rubio
stated on January 14, 2016 in a Republican presidential debate in North Charleston, S.C.:

Says Sen. Ted Cruz used to be "in favor of birthright citizenship" but is now against it.

Mostly False

By Joshua Gillin • January 15, 2016

Donald Trump
stated on January 5, 2016 in an interview with The Washington Post:

Canadian-born Ted Cruz "has had a double passport."

False

By W. Gardner Selby • January 6, 2016

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