Texas Senator Ted Cruz was loudly booed by thousands of racing fans while presenting the winner's trophy at the Formula 1 United States Grand Prix in Austin, Texas.
The MAGA Republican senator stepped onto the podium at the Circuit of the Americas to hand the first-place trophy to Mercedes driver Kimi Antonelli after he took the checkered flag. As Cruz's face was shown on television screens at the circuit, the crowd mercilessly and relentlessly jeered him.
The boos continued to rain down on Cruz until he took his hands off the winner's trophy. Fans in the grandstands immediately switched to cheers once Antonelli lifted the silverware.
Broadcast reaction and Texas Senate politics
The icy reception on the podium was addressed live on the Formula 1 broadcast by Sky Sports commentator David Croft. Sky Sports is the primary English-language television broadcaster for the championship in the United Kingdom and supplies commentary for the international world feed.
"Midterms are coming up, people are already voting with their voice," Croft said during the broadcast.
Cruz, who has served as the junior United States senator from Texas since taking office in 2013, is not up for re-election until the 2030 midterm elections, as members of the United States Senate serve six-year terms. However, Texas is currently in the middle of a fiercely contested Senate race between Republican state Attorney General Ken Paxton and Democratic State Representative James Talarico.
The United States Grand Prix at the Circuit of the Americas is one of the flagship events on the Formula 1 calendar, the highest class of international single-seater auto racing sanctioned by the Federation Internationale de l'Automobile. Antonelli competes in the world championship for Mercedes, the works Formula 1 team of the German carmaker.
Social media backlash after Austin podium
Mockery of the senator continued across social media following the trophy ceremony. Antonello Guerrera, a journalist for the Italian daily newspaper La Repubblica, posted video of the podium reception on social media.
"Embarrassing. Republican senator and Trump supporter @tedcruz brutally booed by the Austin crowd on the F1 podium," Guerrera wrote.
Users replying to Guerrera's video weighed in on the crowd's reaction. One reply read: "Well maybe if he wasn't such an awful POS traitor, people wouldn't boo him."
Another reply stated, "As he should be. Good for the crowd," while a third user asked: "How does this MF keep getting re-elected? Everybody hates him. WTF?"
University of Texas College GameDay jeers
The appearance in Austin marked the second time in two months that Cruz was loudly and emphatically booed during a public appearance at a sporting event in his home state. Last month, students at the University of Texas gave Cruz a similar reception during an appearance on ESPN's college football morning show College GameDay.
College GameDay is a Saturday morning television programme that broadcasts live from university campuses ahead of major college football games. During that segment on the Austin campus, Cruz spoke for nearly ten minutes about the Protect College Sports Act, a proposed piece of Congressional legislation intended to establish rules around financing and eligibility in college sports.
University of Texas students loudly booed Cruz throughout the entire segment, nearly drowning out the senator's words on the broadcast.
