Here's the explanation for the video, and it's apparently "real," as in someone made it from a Hannity clip (photoshopped, video equivalent) and it's several years old now (June 2019, by some reckoning).
Source: MEAWW
According to a video widely being circulated, Cruz can be seen speaking to Hannity when a fly entered his mouth. The Senator coughed and then drank a sip of water before resuming his conversation with Hannity. The entire clip is about six seconds long but quickly began trending on Twitter late on May 26. But before you get ready to create your own meme, you should know the video isn't new.
According to one Twitter user, the video being shared was originally posted "years ago", and was just being reshared when it went viral. User Roshan Rinaldi claimed, "No no. Ted Cruz did swallow a fly. But years ago. My pal Methy Anne had it posted,... But some time ago she got suspended. So the video has been gone for ages. She just got out of Twitmo after months, and I had her repost the vid. Now it's everywhere like it just happened."
Shortly after that tweet, several of Anne and Rinaldi's followers began retweeting the video, and it snowballed from there. The video gained instant fame after being shared by advocate and journalist John Aravosis. As of the time of reporting, #ToadCruz is currently trending on Twitter with over 2,000 tweets and counting.
No no.
Ted Cruz did swallow a fly. But years ago.
My pal Methy Anne had it posted,... But some time ago she got suspended. So the video has been gone for ages.
She just got out of Twitmo after months, and I had her repost the vid.
Now it's everywhere like it just happened. 😛— Roshan Rinaldi (@Roshan_Rinaldi) May 27, 2021
@tedcruz Eat it up Ted !!! pic.twitter.com/PqMkkHlrmh
— Methy Anne (@anne_methy) May 26, 2021
Naturally, this set the internet ablaze for a few hours as #ToadCruz trended on Twitter.
Oh. My. God. He ate a fly! pic.twitter.com/SFBfkWzxA8
— John Aravosis 🇺🇸🇬🇷🏳️🌈 (@aravosis) May 27, 2021
Disgusting human, and fat wolverine cosplayer ted cruz
eats a fly, live on a parody news channel pic.twitter.com/ldoheJq4DC— 🥀_Imposter_🌹 (@Imposter_Edits) May 26, 2021
It’s appropriate that a fly landed on #TurdCruz so now he’s also #ToadCruz 🐸 https://t.co/cCOmrnOkTz
— Tara Dublin Is Vaccinated AF 💉 (@taradublinrocks) May 27, 2021
#ToadCruz Reads Dr Seuss
I do not like green eggs and ham
I do not like them, Ted I am
I do not like green eggs to chew
I do not like clean water too
I do not like it in a flask
I do not like it through a mask
But I am just like other guys
The thing I like, is eating flies pic.twitter.com/iBay2E2jNQ— Tomi T Ahonen (@tomiahonen) May 27, 2021
UPDATE: (Karoli) Here's a fact-check that says there was never a fly in the full video. It's still funny.
