Whether in jest or in earnest, Sen. Ted Cruz (R-TX) made the remarkable admission Monday that President Donald Trump was responsible for overturning a penalty at a recent FIFA World Cup game, and onlookers were left floored at the brazen admission.
“Has no one told these idiots that you don’t publicly gloat when your corruption succeeds?” asked Franklin Leonard, a California-based film producer, in a social media post on X to his more than 170,000 followers.
U.S. national team soccer player Folarin Balogun was issued a red card last week but had the penalty overturned after Trump and his inner circle personally intervened, according to Politico. Had the red card not been overturned, Balogun would have been suspended from the U.S. national team’s next game.
Cruz, standing next to Trump in the Oval Office Monday, personally thanked the president for “getting rid of that ridiculous red card,” with Trump later confirming his involvement just moments later.
The U.S. national team is set to face off against Belgium Monday evening, and Belgian officials were not pleased with FIFA’s reversal of Balogun’s penalty.
“Shame on you! When money calls the shots, the World Cup loses all credibility,” said Belgium’s opposition Socialist party in a statement, Politico reported.
Alex Medina, a prominent music producer, argued that Belgium could simply cite video of Cruz’s and Trump’s open admissions in its appeal to FIFA.
“Belgium, you can attach this to your email,” Medina wrote in a social media post on X to his more than 55,000 followers, alongside video of Cruz’s and Trump’s remarks.
Journalist Kevin Schofield came to a similar conclusion.
“Corruption in plain sight. No [offense] to the USA team, but come on Belgium,” Schofield wrote.
Cruz’s remarks sparked a chorus of soft, nervous laughter, followed by an extended period of silence, a reaction that Manny Fidel, a New York-based writer and podcast host, summed up bluntly.
“Ted Cruz wants to joke about this while everyone else is like please shut the f--- up and stop implicating us,” Fidel wrote.
