I always knew there was something fishy about Ted Cruz, but I could never put my finger on it. This has nothing to do with his policies, his beliefs or even his disconcertingly striking resemblance to former Sen. Joe McCarthy. It is his smile, or lack thereof. A measly half-grin of bittersweet emotions escaping his soul each time a photographer asks him to look into a camera. With a smile like that, the “Zodiac Killer” accusations may have been on to something.

The Texas senator found himself in an ocean’s worth of hot water last Tuesday after he allegedly “liked” a video posted by a sexually explicit Twitter account. The title of the account in question is “Sexuall Posts,” a name for a social media page that is everything you would imagine, including the last thing Cruz or his publicist would like to hear about right now. Regardless of the laughs had at another politician’s expense, this mishap poses as more of a legitimate threat to the Republican establishment than jokes would have one believe. 

Despite Cruz’s scapegoat-like excuse that it was due to a staff member’s finger slipping, the public has a hard time believing that is true. Cruz is a conservative, which at face value would not mean so much if he was any other politician who shared his beliefs. The dilemma lies in how much pride he takes in that. Among his peers, Cruz developed a reputation running on the platform of devotion to one’s country, God, one’s spouse, etc. 

Jennifer Calfas, a writer for Time Magazine, said that “this likely includes his history of vilifying American sexuality over the years to uphold religious priorities.” Seeing as he is an accomplished individual with notable influence, it is clear that this has worked for him. By no means do those values deserve ridicule, but the hypocrisy of this story is undoubtedly the funniest part of all.

Here is a man who has supposedly lived his entire life with a clean slate regarding these sorts of things. Sure, I do not completely buy it, and potentially neither do lots of others, but if he aspired to have a moral high ground, making a living from applying his morals for others to live by, then someone of his status taking a blow over a porn clip does not look good for him, or for those he affiliates with. 

As the plethora of social media outcries would suggest, watching two naked strangers on-screen (or three in his case) is not the crime here. Rather, the fixation is on Cruz having been caught. No one cares what Cruz milks himself to, but was he not the one to condemn taking part in such an action in the first place? Now, both his voters and political enemies will examine the hypocrisy for leverage. 

Picture it now; the first GOP debate of the next presidential season, but instead of teasing Jeb Bush or making fun of the size of Donald Trump’s hands, Anderson Cooper asks Cruz if he has seen any good “movies” lately. “Frankly, this would be a relief,” said Cate Carrejo, a writer for Bustle Media. “It would make Cruz out to be a normal human being and not some anti-sex cyborg.”

According to Catherine Frazier, senior communications advisor for Cruz, the tweet has since been removed from his “likes” tab and reported to Twitter. Now all that remains is for Cruz to decide whether he and Anthony Weiner will partner up as 2020 running mates.