Overview

• On Newsmax, Sen. Ted Cruz called Illinois Gov. J.B. Pritzker “a disgusting, racist bigot” and quipped about not getting between him and a Domino’s pizza line.
• Cruz alleged Pritzker keeps “open doors” for human and drug traffickers and MS-13 and Tren de Aragua members, and he touted GOP gains with Latino voters in Texas in 2024.
• Pritzker replied on X by invoking Cruz’s 2021 Mexico trip during Texas’s winter emergency, saying he wouldn’t want to get between Cruz and a Cancun getaway.
• The exchange stemmed from Pritzker’s press conference criticizing ICE for targeting Latinos and opposing President Trump’s proposed National Guard deployments to Chicago.
• The episode has drawn widespread online criticism of Cruz’s body-shaming, and there have been no policy changes or formal repercussions reported.