22 Times The 2016 Presidential Election Was A Dumpster Fire

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6. Ted Cruz, Threatening Time Traveler

Setting aside any actual scandals for a moment, one of the weirdest ones is something completely made-up. As a joke, someone suggested that former Republican candidate Ted Cruz was a mysterious criminal known as the Zodiac Killer. The joke circulated so much that it’s become a meme. Normally, one might not take such a thing lightly, even in jest. However, the crimes took place before Cruz was even born and then in his early childhood. Unless he was able to time travel to the 1960s, Cruz could not have possibly committed those acts.

Rather than any earnest attempt to defame Senator Cruz, the purpose behind it seems to be satire. Politics always seems to go hand-in-hand with dishonesty and distrust. By comparing a candidate with a criminal from decades past, people can vent their frustrations. Since the meme itself is so ridiculous, there’s little chance of backlash.

In fact, Cruz himself seemed to take it in stride. In an interview with Jimmy Kimmel, when asked about his favourite cereal, Cruz joked, “Serial killer or cereal?” While it surprised Kimmel and the audience, it was a nod to the joke as harmless. Or at the very least, something he was willing to make his own.