A video showing a woman’s reaction while Senator Ted Cruz walked past her at Sunday’s football game between Texas A&M and Notre Dame has gone viral on social media, picking up more than 1 million views on X, formerly Twitter.
Lucy Rohden, a producer on the sports-focused show Dan Le Batard Show With Stugotz, where she also regularly appears as an on-screen talent, shared the seven-second clip on social media of her imitating a mild vomiting motion in the Texas senator’s presence.
Texas A&M, which Cruz attended the game to support, lost 23-13. Sports fans have previously called for the Republican to be barred from games in Texas, suggesting he is a “curse” whose attendance causes teams to lose.
In Rohden’s video, which was posted on X without comment, Cruz is seen walking along the field, and at one point he turns to face another man. The camera cuts to Rohden, who makes the vomiting motion before putting a hand over her mouth.
The video has received more than 1.1 million views, 27,000 likes and 2,800 shares on X, with an account for the Mueller, She Wrote podcast commenting, “Same, girl.”
The podcast is hosted by three comics and was initially launched to cover special counsel Robert Mueller‘s investigation into Russian interference in the 2016 presidential election.
Another viewer commented on the video, “Ted Cruz is a thief of joy and fun.”
“HAHAHA HAHAHA HAHA @tedcruz you’ve got so many fans,” a user wrote, while another added, “Ted Cruz is a major buzz kill…wait till the end [rolling on the floor laughing emoji]….she’s all of us.”
Newsweek contacted the office of Senator Ted Cruz and Lucy Rohden for comment via email outside regular office hours.
PATRICK T. FALLON/AFP/GETTY
Speaking to reporters before the game, Texas A&M athletic director Trev Alberts welcomed Cruz. According to the Houston Chronicle, he said: “We would like to welcome Sen. Cruz back to Aggieland and I’ll tell you how grateful we are that you are here.
“We know that you’ve been here many times, and I talked to [Texas A&M President] Gen. Welsh about this, and he promised me that you’re going to be good luck tonight.” Cruz replied, “Amen.”
The two-term senator is up for reelection in November and is set to face Democrat challenger Representative Colin Allred. A recent ActiVote poll gave the Republican incumbent a lead of 10.4 points.
On August 26, Texas Governor Greg Abbott announced that more than 1 million voters had been removed from the state’s voting rolls since September 2021. The Dallas Morning News’ editorial board later accused the governor and other Republican officials in the state, such as Cruz, of “hurting our democracy” by claiming widespread electoral fraud among noncitizen voters.