7:16
- ABC News
- September 18, 2018
Cruz says Democrats will ban barbecue in Texas
Ted Cruz is facing an aggressive challenge from Democrat Beto O'Rourke.
7:16
A spokeswoman for Cruz's campaign confirmed to ABC News that Cruz's tweet was \"of course\" a joke.
The tongue-in-cheek comments from the Texas Senator come amid an unexpectedly competitive challenge from O'Rourke, who has raised an impressive amount of money in his bid to unseat Cruz in a reliably Republican state. Cruz has consistently attempted to paint O'Rourke as too liberal for Texas' more conservative electorate that hasn't elected a Democrat statewide since 1994.
A poll released Tuesday by Quinnipiac University showed Cruz with a nine-point advantage over O'Rourke with just 49 days to go until the November election.
![\"PHOTO:](\"http://a.abcnews.com/images/Politics/texas-barbecue-gty-hb-180918_hpEmbed_23x15_384.jpg\")
A representative for O'Rourke's campaign did not respond to ABC News' request for comment on Cruz's assertion.
According to a spokesperson for PETA, the protesters gathered outside of Cruz's event, held about 90 miles outside of Austin, were handing out samples of barbecued tofu \"in response to Cruz's recent comments that liberals want Texas 'to be just like California, right down to the tofu.\"
\"Ted Cruz is cruzin' for a bruisin' because you don’t mess with Texas tofu-eaters. Texans will cross all party lines to stand in the buffet line for homegrown and tasty tofu,\" a spokesperson for PETA told ABC News in a statement Tuesday.
The comments the group is referring to came at a different campaign even last week, when Cruz told a gathering of supports that liberals want Texas \"to be just like California, right down to the tofu and silicon and dyed hair.\"
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