Texas Republican Senator Ted Cruz has spent the past week shouldering wave after wave of criticism following his decision to fly to sunny Cancun, Mexico with has family while his home state struggled through rolling blackouts and freezing temperatures caused by the worst storm to hit the state in years.
The criticism has taken a variety of forms.
Actor Seth Rogen took a jab right after Cruz was seen at the airport, firing off a scathing Twitter rebuke; televised interviews have pushed Cruz to apologize with his tail between his legs; someone even hired a tongue-in-cheek mariachi band to play outside Cruz' house, where Texas residents have stood in protest of the Senator's decision to duck the crisis.
And now, a party supply store in Dallas just added itself to the list of creative critiques.
According to NBC Dallas-Fort Worth, the store, called ABC Party HQ, has begun to sell an airport edition Ted Cruz piñata
The made-to-whack figure stands at three and a half feet tall, and features Ted Cruz exactly as he looked striding through the Houston airport on his way home from Mexico : black pants, gray shirt, phone in hand, Texas State Flag face mask, and even a rolling suitcase.
The handmade, candy-filled piñata takes three to five days to make, and must be pre-ordered two weeks ahead of time.
It carries a price tag of $100.
Sen. Ted Cruz piñatas created at Dallas party store: https://t.co/ClkBrGIQRK https://t.co/XjZU94ZtQx— NBC DFW (@NBC DFW) 1614050872.0
Not surprisingly, the new item was a huge hit across the internet.
I will literally take all of my rage and anger out at the Ted Cruz piñata instead of going to therapy https://t.co/wzUbQjEKIW— ani (@ani) 1614114524.0
It's not my birthday or anything but I'm ordering me a Ted Cruz Pinata. I have my Aluminum B'ball bat and need some practice at swinging.— Psycho Babble at your service (@Psycho Babble at your service) 1614194704.0
It’s rare that a piñata is more attractive than its source material https://t.co/1ThVTk0gIY— gianmarco (@gianmarco) 1614104300.0
I want to go on the record as saying that hitting a pinata with a blunt training longsword is a very satisfying exp… https://t.co/vSgY07C2tD— Theron Bretz (@Theron Bretz) 1614213727.0
You can now buy a piñata of Ted Cruz on the lam to Mexico. This is capitalism at it's finest. https://t.co/u2fjEn6Kzw— Sylvester Tweetycat (@Sylvester Tweetycat) 1614194004.0
Apparently in Dallas there is a pinata company that does Ted Cruz pinatas and I am praying that they ship to San Antonio.— Georgina (Gigi) Kiersten (@Georgina (Gigi) Kiersten) 1614266410.0
There you have it.
When people don't feel a sense of accountability or justice from their elected official, whacking their likeness with a locally made piñata is apparently the next best thing.