Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Texas) was roasted out of the galaxy on Wednesday after he used the iconic “Star Wars” franchise to jab at former Fox News host Tucker Carlson over his awkward interview moment.
Carlson — who has opposed U.S. involvement in Israel’s war with Iran — asked Cruz for Iran’s population and questioned him over why he couldn’t cite such a figure of a country he seeks to “topple.” Cruz hit back by remarking that he doesn’t go around “memorizing population tables.”
A clip of their clash drew more than 34 million views on X, formerly Twitter, leading Cruz to post a seemingly AI-generated image of Carlson asking Luke Skywalker for the population of the Death Star (a space station for the autocratic Galactic Empire and a superweapon that Skywalker destroys in the first “Star Wars” film).
Eagle-eyed “Star Wars” fans on X swiftly took down Cruz’s swipe at Carlson by noting that Skywalker — in the 1996 book “Shield of Lies” — added up the number of people killed on the Death Star (the book is, notably, no longer considered part of the canon).
Others shared a different take on the Carlson-Skywalker comic by sharing an AI-generated illustration of the former Fox News host asking Grand Moff Tarkin — the commander of the Death Star — for the population of Alderaan, a planet he destroys with the space station’s laser in the first film.
Cruz has claimed to be a big “Star Wars” fan, telling ABC News in 2015 that presidential candidates who are asked which character they’d be in the franchise “ought to be eliminated right off the bat” if they named Skywalker.
He went on to tell the network that Han Solo was the “coolest character in all of cinema” before sharing his impressions of Yoda and Darth Vader.
Check out how “Star Wars” fans and others reacted to Cruz’s post below.