Ted Cruz Confuses Washington With Western Australia, Is Widely Mocked

Senator Ted Cruz (R-TX) is facing ridicule over a now-deleted tweet that mixed up the state of Washington in the U.S. with Western Australia, a state that is part of Australia.

The Republican had retweeted a post featuring a screenshot from the Facebook page of the government of Western Australia (WA Government) that appeared to advise a woman that dancing was not permitted at a private New Year's Eve party at her home. The original tweet did not mention Washington.

Cruz added his own comment criticizing Washington and Democrat-led states in general but he later deleted the tweet in question. By then, many social media users had seen the post and were mocking Cruz for the error.

Cruz had tweeted: "Blue-state Dems are power-drunk authoritarian kill-joys. Washington State: NO DANCING ALLOWED!!! Any rational & free citizen: Piss off."

The WA Government's Facebook page had replied to a woman who had asked if she was allowed to hold a party for New Year's Eve.

Their reply said that "masks are not required at private residences. Dancing is strictly not permitted."

Democratic Representative Eric Swalwell pointed out the mistake before the tweet was deleted. He wrote: "Hey Ted, WA is Western Australia. But cool tweet."

Once Cruz had deleted the tweet, Swalwell tweeted about the matter again: "Jackpot. @tedcruz deleted his faux outrage tweet. Please stay on this phony" and shared a screenshot of "Einstein's original tweet," referring to Cruz.

Republican Representative Adam Kinzinger also shared a screenshot of the deleted post and wrote: "Since @tedcruz deleted this, I'll post as a reminder to all of us to DO YOUR RESEARCH before posting misinformation. WA means 'Western Australia' not Washington state."

Grace Panetta, senior politics reporter at Business Insider, tweeted: "The 'WA government' here is Western Australia. Not everything revolves around the US all the time."

Cartoonist Ruben Bolling retweeted Panetta and added: "Western Australia (WA) jokes that dancing is not permitted in homes on New Years Eve. @tedcruz thinks it's Washington State and freaks out about "power-drunk" blue states. Ted was ready find an abandoned warehouse, strip down to his tee, and do his angry Footloose dance."

However, the government of Western Australia does not appear to have been joking about the ban on dancing. According to its website: "Dancing is not permitted except at weddings."

This is part of the state's efforts to tackle the spread of COVID-19. Restrictions were recently extended in the state ahead of New Year celebrations.

Anthony Michael Kreis, a law professor at Georgia State University College of Law, wrote: "I, like Ted Cruz, am upset I cannot dance in Western Australia because I wanted to club in Perth."