Ted Cruz deletes Dolly Parton tribute after X prank

Texas Senator Ted Cruz deleted a tribute to the late country music icon Dolly Parton after falling victim to a prank on X. The senator had shared a video of Parton performing on ‘The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson’ in 1979, captioning the post ‘Legend’ with various emojis.

Following the retweet, the account holder of the original post, @lebatardshowfan, reportedly changed their display name to an explicit insult directed at Cruz. The prank resulted in the insulting phrase appearing prominently above the video within Cruz’s shared post.

The account owner also responded to the senator, referencing his political history regarding the 2016 Republican National Convention. Cruz removed the tribute approximately 17 hours after the initial post.