Ted Cruz, a flesh-man theoretically in contention for the presidency of the United States of America, is sometimes asked for his autograph by admirers and trolls. He gives it freely, which is a mistake for him and a blessing for the Internet at large.
On Thursday, Cruz was asked to sign Marx and Engels’s crucial The Communist Manifesto “as a joke,” and Cruz, an outspoken opponent of communism and socialism, complied.
“Millions have suffered because of this,” he scrawled. “Ted Cruz.”
A young man asked @SenTedCruz to sign a copy of the Communist Manifesto as a joke. Here's what Cruz wrote. pic.twitter.com/8VW5H2XHOb
— Ben Gittleson (@bgittleson) April 28, 2016
Cruz may have momentarily felt like he got one over on the jokester. Someone wanted him to endorse Marx, but Ted Cruz is too smart for that, yessir.
He’d given the same passive-aggressive assent months ago, when asked to sign a printout of the Immigration and Naturalization Act, a law that some believe disqualifies Cruz from the presidency. Cruz signed, but not before underlining the parts he claims make him eligible.
Unfortunately for Cruz, Photoshop exists, and the Internet’s ability to remove context knows no bounds. When he signed the Manifesto, he gave the world an invitation to mischief.
https://twitter.com/elongreen/status/725768350706614274
https://twitter.com/GaryLegum/status/725769373881896960
https://twitter.com/MilesKlee/status/725770951263051778
@MilesKlee @elongreen Ted Cruz signed my copy of 'Fifty Shades of Grey' pic.twitter.com/Vrqr1SQ7S0
— a spooky little meatball (@madsgobbo) April 28, 2016
And, of course, this meme is easy to tie in with the biggest, shark-jumpingest Internet meme about Ted Cruz: that he is the infamous Zodiac Killer.
https://twitter.com/MilesKlee/status/725774809485824000
https://twitter.com/Cameron_Ayers1/status/725490995383525376
Unlike Cruz’s alleged victims, this Zodiac Killer thing just refuses to die.