Ted Cruz–Zodiac Killer meme

The Ted Cruz–Zodiac Killer meme is an Internet meme which originated in 2013 and gained popularity in 2015. A facetious conspiracy theory, the meme suggests that Ted Cruz, a United States senator and 2016 US presidential candidate, is the Zodiac Killer, an unidentified serial killer active in the late 1960s and early 1970s. Cruz, born in 1970, could not have committed these murders,[1] which began before his birth. Circulators of the meme do not genuinely believe that he was the Zodiac Killer, citing the absurdity of its premise; NPR wrote that the meme captured "a feeling they have about Cruz: they think he's creepy. And they want to point that out, as clearly as they can."[1]

Ted Cruz and a sketch of the Zodiac Killer

Origin and spread

To be clear: the Zodiac Killer line is a joke. But it's a prolific joke, and one you can find printed on bumper stickers and a variety of black metal tees across the country. For Cruz, the Baptist senator for Texas and right-wing Republican presidential candidate, it's an unexpected foray into popular culture.

— Dylan Baddour of the Houston Chronicle, April 26, 2016[2]

A January 2016 investigation by Miles Klee of The Daily Dot found the first use of the meme to be by a Twitter user in March 2013, as Cruz was speaking at the Conservative Political Action Conference and vowing to repeal the Affordable Care Act.[3][4] The actual Tweet was, "Alert: Ted Cruz is speaking!! His speech is titled: 'This Is The Zodiac Speaking'"[5] The meme was not repeated until November 2014, by another Twitter user writing about Cruz's proposal against net neutrality.[4]

It continued in obscurity up to February 2016, when another Twitter user edited a picture of a Republican debate in order to include "Is Ted Cruz the Zodiac Killer?" in the interactive ticker at the bottom.[1] That month, "is ted cruz the zodiac killer" was the second highest suggestion in Google's autocomplete for "is ted", but by April it was not in the autocomplete at all.[1][6] News.com.au writer Matthew Dunn suggested that Google was censoring the search term, showing evidence that it accounted for 89% of total searches when compared to other terms in the autocomplete.[6]

In April 2016, the Houston Chronicle said the meme "has a following. A Facebook group named for the meme has more than 27,000 members. A Google search turns up 621,000 hits, including exploratory articles by some of the biggest news publications on the web".[2]

Cruz himself has jocularly alluded to the meme by tweeting one of the Zodiac Killer's cryptograms; first in October 2017 responding to a retweet from Senator Ben Sasse referring to Cruz as "the son of the guy who killed Kennedy" (a reference to a conspiracy theory involving Rafael Cruz)[7] and then wishing a "Happy Halloween" in 2018.[8] In December 2020, after the 340-character Zodiac cipher was cracked, Cruz retweeted an article about the cipher with the caption "uh oh".[9]

Comedian Larry Wilmore made joking suggestions that Cruz was the Zodiac Killer at the White House Correspondents' Dinner in April 2016.

After the edited image showing the question on Google trended, the meme spread into popular culture.[1] Books about Cruz being the Zodiac Killer, including romantic ones, were listed on Amazon.com.[4]

In February 2016, Public Policy Polling asked registered voters in Florida ahead of the Republican primary if they believed Cruz to be the Zodiac Killer; 10% believed and 28% were not sure. The other 62% did not think he was.[10][11]

Comedian Larry Wilmore made references to the meme in his April 2016 routine at the White House Correspondents' Dinner, including a joke that Cruz was not campaigning to win the nomination, but to continue a murder spree.[12]

The meme has been repeated, without disclaimer, in anti-Cruz opinion pieces in GQ and the Chicago Tribune.[13][14]

In October of 2022, satirical news outlet The Babylon Bee produced a sketch as part of a series following the lives of two Californians who had moved to Texas. In the sketch titled 'Episode 3 - The Church', the Californians are canvassing for Beto O'Rourke as part of the 2022 US midterm elections and Cruz answers the door. In response to the canvassers, Cruz states he is short on time having 'letters to write' before closing the door and inadvertently dropping one of the letters. The canvassers quickly flee after seeing that the letter is printed with a cypher.[15] Ted Cruz plays himself in the video.[16]

Reception

Lindsey Martin, a Twitter user who helped circulate the meme, told NPR that she did so because it is "so obviously untrue... if there was any way that it could possibly be true I would be scared to joke about it just because of the repercussions.”[1] The Verge writer Kaitlyn Tiffany opined that some may consider the subject of the meme to be "distasteful and irresponsible, even dangerous".[4] Leigh Alexander considered its spread an example of the growing political engagement of youth, writing that in such memes, "the political figure is exaggerated, his context made grotesque or fantastical, just as in traditional political cartooning."[17] According to Lozano, the point of the meme is to "[demonize] his character".[2] Heidi Cruz responded to the meme by stating that she has "been married to him for 15 years, and I know pretty well who he is, so it doesn't bother me at all. There's a lot of garbage out there".[18]

See also

References
  1. Sanders, Sam (February 26, 2016). "#MemeOfTheWeek: Ted Cruz And The Zodiac Killer". NPR. Archived from the original on May 2, 2016. Retrieved May 1, 2016.
  2. Baddour, Dylan (26 April 2016). "Killer cocktail named after Ted Cruz, sort of". Houston Chronicle. Archived from the original on 29 April 2016. Retrieved 1 May 2016.
  3. Klee, Miles (January 25, 2016). "Ted Cruz has yet to deny that he's the Zodiac Killer". The Daily Dot. Archived from the original on May 4, 2016. Retrieved May 1, 2016.
  4. Tiffany, Kaitlyn (February 26, 2016). "Who called Ted Cruz the Zodiac Killer, why, and is he?". The Verge. Archived from the original on May 1, 2016. Retrieved May 1, 2016.
  5. Steppin’ Razor [@TakeItDeeDee] (March 14, 2013). "#CPAC Alert: Ted Cruz is speaking!! His speech is titled: 'This Is The Zodiac Speaking'" (Tweet). Archived from the original on January 28, 2021. Retrieved March 3, 2021 – via Twitter.
  6. Dunn, Matthew (April 21, 2016). "Google removes 'Is Ted Cruz the Zodiac Killer' suggestion, despite it being most popular search". News.com.au. Archived from the original on April 26, 2016. Retrieved May 1, 2016.
  7. Cruz, Ted [@tedcruz] (October 18, 2017). "@BenSasse t.co/CRKdrSDWes" (Tweet). Archived from the original on February 16, 2021. Retrieved March 3, 2021 – via Twitter.
  8. Cruz, Ted [@tedcruz] (October 31, 2018). "Happy Halloween t.co/jIgTaIMzep" (Tweet). Archived from the original on February 22, 2021. Retrieved March 3, 2021 – via Twitter.
  9. Cruz, Ted [@tedcruz] (December 11, 2020). "uh oh t.co/HkyYGa4oKN" (Tweet). Archived from the original on February 22, 2021. Retrieved March 3, 2021 – via Twitter.
  10. Stuart, Tessa (February 26, 2016). "Is Ted Cruz the Zodiac Killer? Maybe, Say 38 Percent of Florida Voters". Rolling Stone. Archived from the original on April 28, 2016. Retrieved May 1, 2016.
  11. "Trump Leads Rubio in Florida- Even Head to Head" (PDF). Public Policy Polling. Archived (PDF) from the original on April 8, 2016. Retrieved May 1, 2016.
  12. Ayala, Christine (May 1, 2016). "Larry Wilmore: Of course 'everybody hates' Ted Cruz, he's the Zodiac Killer". Dallas Morning News. Archived from the original on May 2, 2016. Retrieved May 1, 2016.
  13. Moore, Jack (April 27, 2016). "Ted Cruz Is Doing Very Little to Disprove He's the Zodiac Killer". GQ. Archived from the original on April 30, 2016. Retrieved May 1, 2016.
  14. Huppke, Rex (April 25, 2016). "Ted Cruz's cowardly anti-transgender stance". Chicago Tribune. Archived from the original on April 29, 2016. Retrieved May 1, 2016.
  15. "Californians Move to Texas | Episode 3: The Church". The Babylon Bee. Retrieved 2022-11-14.
  16. Californians Move to Texas - Episode 3: The Church (Documentary, Animation, Comedy), 2022-10-21, retrieved 2022-11-19
  17. Alexander, Leigh (May 4, 2016). "Blame it on the Zodiac killer: did social media ruin Ted Cruz's campaign?". The Guardian. Archived from the original on May 16, 2016. Retrieved May 13, 2016.
  18. "Heidi Cruz responds to people who call her husband the Zodiac Killer". Yahoo! News. 2 May 2016. Archived from the original on May 5, 2016. Retrieved May 13, 2016.
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