Does Ted Cruz have a "template ready to tweet" whenever shootings happen? No, that's not true: The Texas senator tweeted in response to the school shooting in Uvalde, Texas, on May 24, 2022. But a viral tweet that makes it look like Cruz tweeted the same thing after other U.S. shootings is fake.
The claim appeared in a Twitter post (archived here) on May 26, 2022. It includes an image of what looks to be a list of 12 nearly identical tweets, just with different locations and posting dates. It opens:
These mass shootings happen so much that Ted Cruz really got a template ready to tweet whenever they occur.
This is what the post looked like on Twitter at the time of writing:
(Source: Twitter screenshot taken on Fri May 27 13:19:13 2022 UTC)
Only the first tweet in the list is real. The rest are fake. Cruz's real tweet in response to the Uvalde shooting can be seen below:
Heidi & I are fervently lifting up in prayer the children and families in the horrific shooting in Uvalde.
-- Ted Cruz (@tedcruz) May 24, 2022
We are in close contact with local officials, but the precise details are still unfolding.
Thank you to heroic law enforcement & first responders for acting so swiftly.
A simple Twitter search shows he did not tweet the same thing after other U.S. shootings.
That's not to say that Cruz did not tweet in the wake of other shootings. He did. For example, here's what Cruz wrote after the May 2022 mass shooting in Buffalo, New York:
Heidi & I are praying for the families of the victims of the horrific shooting in Buffalo, NY.
-- Ted Cruz (@tedcruz) May 16, 2022
The killer must be prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law and brought to justice. The racism & antisemitism that purportedly motivated this killer have no place in America. 1/x
And here's what he posted after the December 2012 school shooting in Newtown, Connecticut:
Thoughts and prayers are with the victims and families of all those impacted by today's tragic shooting in Newtown, CT.
-- Ted Cruz (@tedcruz) December 14, 2012
