Ted Cruz Says It Was A Staffer, And Definitely Not Him, Who Hit Like On A Porn Tweet

"Please don't make me think about Ted Cruz's taste in porn."

Texas Sen. Ted Cruz said Wednesday he did not like a pornographic video from his official Twitter account, instead blaming an unidentified staffer for the action and calling it "a screw up."

"It was not me, and it's not going to happen again."

Cruz told CNN's Dana Bash he had no intention of publicly identifying the staffer who liked the porn tweet, saying his office was dealing with it internally.

"I'm not going to out the fella," Cruz said. "We have dealt with it internally, but I'm not going to throw anybody under the bus."

Asked if he could say outright that it was not Cruz himself that liked the tweet, the senator said: "It was not me, and it's not going to happen again."

His response came after people on Twitter noticed Monday night that the most recent like on Cruz's feed was of a pornographic video.

Within a few hours, the Sexuall Posts tweet had been unliked. Early Tuesday morning, Cruz's senior communications adviser, Catherine Frazier, posted that "the offensive tweet posted on @tedcruz account earlier has been removed by staff and reported to Twitter."

The offensive tweet posted on @tedcruz account earlier has been removed by staff and reported to Twitter

BuzzFeed News reached out to Cruz's Senate office for more information about the Twitter activity — including who was responsible for the like — but has not yet received a response.

Later on Tuesday, Ted Cruz told reporters "there are a number of people on the team that have access to the account and it appears that someone inadvertently hit the like button."

He went on to say it was a "staffing issue" and that his team is "dealing with it internally."

Q: It wasn’t you? CRUZ: "It was a staffing issue, and it was inadvertent, it was a mistake, it was not a deliberate action."

The internet quickly took notice, and expressed shock that the conservative Republican from Texas — or someone with access to his official campaign Twitter account — had apparently been watching, and liking, porn.

Somewhere Ted Cruz's staff is trying to wake him up to unlike that video. But he's sound asleep after watching it.

Some people speculated that Cruz had forgotten which account he was using.

@SexuallPosts Ted Cruz half asleep wit his meat out forgot he was on his main account lmfao

Others suggested the account may have been hacked.

What's Ted Cruz's excuse going to be? Hacked? Accident? Difficulty holding phone with his *other* hand?

Or that it was the work of a soon-to-be-fired intern.

if you either are ted cruz's intern who is about to get fired over the porn fav or know who it is pls email me ty ashley_feinberg@wired.com

Zach Braff chimed in that he'd blame a "rogue staffer."

Ted Cruz will say it was a rogue staffer but...

Yikes.

"Please don't make me think about Ted Cruz's taste in porn."

Please don't make me think about Ted Cruz's taste in porn.

Some people thought it was super gross.

I can't believe Ted Cruz would like something so disgusting on a public Twitter account.

Other people thought it was cool...

y'all actin like u ain't never beat your meat suddenly? shoutout ted cruz he just got my next vote if he runs again

And said they'd be voting for him in 2020.

Breaking: @tedcruz displays human-like tendencies https://t.co/OWpEFZCKX2

The porn quickly became its own meme.

@SexuallPosts When you notice Ted Cruz liking twitter porn

Me waiting for Ted Cruz to respond to this drama

@danpfeiffer Ted Cruz's press sec right now:

Even Cruz's former college roommate chimed in.

Now imagine Ted Cruz is doing this four feet below you in the bottom bunk bed. Yes, my misery very much appreciates your company.

And there were lots and lots of jokes...

*checks to see why ted Cruz is trending*

Well done @TedCruz using the power of "like" to illustrate the evils of porn #Weiner

Ted Cruz looking at Twitter right now

Nothing unifies America more than mocking Ted Cruz.

Hey, at least the "Sexuall Posts" account was having a good night.

@magicbulletrecs @tedcruz Thanks for watching ted!

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