Desperate-for-attention Ted Cruz cooks bacon with a machine gun in campaign video

As Thursday's Fox News Republican debate approaches, once-heralded GOP candidates are becoming increasingly anxious to raise their poll numbers and try to make it into the top 10 candidates who will be allowed to debate on the main stage.

Huffington Post reported on a campaign video by Sen. Ted Cruz (R-TX) that seems to have been conceived by way of a right-wing Mad Lib.

"There are few things I enjoy more than on weekends cooking breakfast with the family. Of course in Texas, we cook bacon a little differently than most folks," Cruz said in the video.

He then wrapped the barrel of an assault rifle in raw bacon, coated it in foil, then fired at targets on a shooting range.

"Mmmmm," Cruz said. "Machine-gun bacon."

Real estate mogul and reality TV star Donald Trump's commanding lead in the Republican field has left many candidates resorting to increasingly outlandish stunts for attention.

Libertarian-leaning Sen. Rand Paul (R-KY) was once heralded by the New York Times as the most buzzed-about candidate for the GOP in 2016. However, Paul getting middling poll numbers and may or may not be relegated to the second "kids' table" debate on Fox News, wherein the lower-ranking candidates will get to have a go at each other.

In July, Paul released a video featuring himself sawing -- literally -- the tax code in half with a chainsaw. As a lone heavy metal guitar squalled out the national anthem, Paul donned safety goggles and sawed away at a stack of paper representing the tax code, then set it on fire and shredded it for good measure.

Sen. Lindsay Graham -- also polling dismally -- released his own stunt video that showed him destroying his cell phone after Donald Trump gave out the number at a live press conference.

Watch Cruz's video, embedded below: