Thread by @MEPFuller

My own little story about Ted Cruz: A thread.

During the height of children coming across the border, Ted Cruz hosted a meeting with some House conservatives in his office one night.

I waited for Cruz.

I catch him at an elevator as he’s leaving. It’s me, him, and an aide.

He clearly wants to leave, but I get him talking about the kids crossing the border, and he very quickly transforms from a guy trying to go home to Ted Cruz, the politician who speaks in THAT voice.

So he’s delivering an impassioned speech. And he’s building up to this crescendo. And he’s actually talking about “body parts” on the border, something about the violence these kids are enduring.

Only, during this emotional performance, an aide keeps hitting the elevator button.

So he’s giving this performance for my tape recorder, and the aide keeps trying to keep the elevator door open by pressing the button. But every time he hits the button to keep it open, the elevator makes a noise.

So Cruz is really pouring it on for me — again: he’s talking about “body parts” of children being found on the border — and just as he’s reaching the crescendo, the aide hits the button for, like, the 5th time.

And in that moment, Cruz breaks character.

He goes from that preacher whisper to a guy who’s really annoyed by this freaking elevator. And he stops talking about body parts in a moment and he turns to his aide and tells him to stop hitting the button.

Totally broke character.

So I look at him, and I kind of laugh, because it was so jarring. And he looks at me, and he understands in that moment that I get it, and he chuckles. He knew I had seen through it.

And then, he returned to talking about the body parts.

Anyway, that’s the story.

I have the tape of this on an old phone. I’ve played the tape for some other reporters over the years, because you really can hear both of us sort of chuckle, and you can hear his whole tone change.

That moment will always stick with me. The end.