Skip to content
Search AI Powered

Latest Stories

Ted Cruz Dragged After Falling For Decade-Old Shark Hoax Following Tropical Storm Hilary

Ted Cruz
Anna Moneymaker/Getty Images

The GOP Senator retweeted a photoshopped image of a shark supposedly swimming along a flooded 405 freeway in Los Angeles after Tropical Storm Hilary.

Texas Republican Senator Ted Cruz was widely mocked online after he fell for a an old photoshopped image of a shark supposedly swimming along a flooded 405 freeway in Los Angeles that circulated as Tropical Stom Hilary lashed Southern California.

Cruz retweeted the photo with a caption expressing surprise, only to be swiftly corrected by internet users who recognized the image as a variation of a hoax that has been circulating online since 2011.


You can see Cruz's post below.

The original photo, which depicted a shark trailing a kayaker, was published in a 2005 article by Africa Geographic. However, the image has been manipulated over the years to create the appearance of sharks swimming in various roadways during different storms.

Social media users quickly added Community Notes to provide the context Cruz sorely lacked:

"The photo originally appeared in 2011, after Hurricane Irene hit Puerto Rico. The hoax also made the rounds in 2015 after Texas was hit with heavy rains, in 2016 during Hurricane Matthew and again in 2017 after Hurricane Harvey."
"The photograph is a digital hoax. The image of the shark was lifted from a 2005 photograph of a kayaker being trailed by a great white shark and pasted into a photograph of a flooded street."

Cruz's post received widespread mockery and criticism, with many highlighting his lack of critical thinking.


Others pointed to Cruz's history of making gaffes during major weather events, which reignited criticisms of his ill-timed trip to Cancún in early 2021.

Indeed, Cruz faced considerable national backlash after he flew to Cancún while millions of people went without food and water as a result of the February 2021 Texas power disaster. At least 246 people were killed directly or indirectly; some estimates suggested as many as 702 people were killed as a result of the crisis.

The jokes came rushing in.

Cruz later admitted he fell for a hoax but tried to turn it into an own the libs moment.

He failed:

"I'm told this is a joke. In LA, you never know... And everyone please stay safe from the storm or otherwise."

You can see Cruz's response below.

But Dan Katz—the Barstool Sports podcaster known as Big Cat who posted the meme Cruz fell for—couldn't resist taking another jab at the Senator by posting a fake photo of sharks swimming in a flooded mall.

He wrote:

"Wait who said it was a joke? It’s a shark on a highway. It’s real as real could be. Look I also have a shark in a mall."

You can see Katz's post below.

People loved that too.

Tropical Storm Hilary, the first to strike Southern California in 84 years, caused extensive damage as it swept through the region.

The storm flooded roads, uprooted trees, and necessitated the rescue of numerous elderly residents trapped by mud in a care facility. As Hilary continued its journey northward, flood watches and warnings were issued for several states.

Although the National Hurricane Center in Miami reported that Hilary had significantly weakened and its impact had lessened, remnants of the storm were still making their way over the Rocky Mountains.

Despite the storm's diminished strength, the center issued a cautionary statement indicating that significant flooding with life-threatening consequences was still anticipated across portions of the Southwestern U.S. This prediction follows unprecedented levels of rainfall.

More from Trending

Screenshot of Stephen Colbert
CBS

Stephen Colbert Makes Somber Plea To Americans In Wake Of Charlie Kirk's Death

Late-night host Stephen Colbert had a somber message for Americans as he addressed the assassination of far-right activist Charlie Kirk, stressing that "political violence only leads to more political violence."

Kirk died after an unidentified gunman shot him in the neck as he—ironically enough—mocked victims of gun violence at an event in Utah Valley State University. Kirk's murder has galvanized the far-right, with President Donald Trump and his surrogates claiming without evidence that rhetoric from Democrats is responsible for Kirk's death.

Keep ReadingShow less
a woman sunbathing on rocks.
a person sitting on a towel on a beach
Photo by Annie Spratt on Unsplash

People Share The Weirdest Flexes They Heard Someone Say With A Straight Face

It is never attractive to gloat.

Even so, some people can't help but brag, or "flex" as it is sometimes known, about certain accomplishments or attributes.

Keep ReadingShow less
Screenshots from @thedowntheredoc's TikTok video
@thedowntheredoc/TikTok

TikToker Hilariously Calls Out Target After Champion Pants Feature Awkwardly-Placed Front Pleat

Sometimes you can just tell when something was designed *for* women, but was not actually designed *by* women.

Take, for instance, the new pleated pants available at Target from the Champion clothing line. While there's nothing wrong with pleated pants and they certainly have a suitable spot in the workplace, the latest rendition of Champion pleated pants are, shall we say, NSFW.

Keep ReadingShow less
Screenshots from @kaicutch's Instagram video
@kaicutch/Instagram

Woman Flips Her Car After Belting Out Ironic Britney Spears Lyric In Wild Viral Video

Whether we want to admit it or not, we've all had our fair share of carpool karaoke and maybe even imagined our car as our own personal recording studio.

But TikToker and Instagrammer Kaitlynn McCutcheon may have gotten too into her performance of Britney Spears' classic, "Hit Me Baby, One More Time," when the road and her car both said, "Bet."

Keep ReadingShow less
Screenshots from ​@lynnshazeen's TikTok video
@lynnshazeen/TikTok

Woman Goes Viral After Revealing How Her Obsession With Matcha Landed Her In The Hospital

Let's be honest: Too much of anything isn't good for us. It's all about the balance!

But the media and social media trends have taught us that certain things are really good for us, encouraging us to be like the "very mindful and very demure" girls and take care of ourselves. One such example is drinking more matcha, especially if you really like coffee or think you have a caffeine addiction.

Keep ReadingShow less