Ted Cruz Inspires Unintentional Laughter on Meet the Press

By Jordan Hoffman, Vanity Fair

09 December 19

The Texas senator made it too easy for Chuck Todd.

enator Ted Cruz got some laughs during a live broadcast on NBC this weekend. Unfortunately for him he was on Meet the Press not Saturday Night Live.

Cruz, sporting a salt and pepper-ish goatee, squared off against Chuck Todd via satellite to discuss the important issues of the day. Some remarkable things happened. When Todd asked him if he believed that Ukraine meddled in the 2016 presidential election, Cruz said he did, saying there was considerable evidence.

Still hung up on the first part, and with an almost Jack Benny-esque sweep, Todd responded “you do?” Cruz's pause netted chuckles from people off-camera and perhaps even a gasp. Crank the volume and listen for yourself.

Earlier this year intelligence officials briefed Senators that theories of Ukrainian involvement in the 2016 election was a fiction created by Russia.

Todd took the moment to lace into Cruz, reminding him of the many nasty things Donald Trump said about him during the primary, suggesting that the President is not above creating “a false narrative about somebody in order to help him politically.” Cruz shrugged this off, and, as part of his spin, and said “of course Russia interfered in our election. Nobody looking at the evidence disputes that.”

“The President of the United States does,” Todd reminded him.

Cruz's Sunday morning comedy act inspired no shortage of social media commentary, the best of which came from his old Princeton University roommate, Chernobyl creator Craig Mazin.