Al Franken Disses Ted Cruz In Senate Memoir – And Cruz Isn’t Happy

Image by Getty Images

By Daniel J. Solomon May 25, 2017

Al Franken is notorious for savagely mocking his political opponents in his politically-themed comedy books. Now, Ted Cruz is on the receiving end of the humor, as the Saturday Night Live star turned Minnesota senator releases his latest memoir, “Giant of the Senate.”

Franken devotes an entire chapter to Cruz titled “Sophistry,” in which he claims the Texas Republican is “full of shit.” Promoting the book, he told USA Today that he dislikes Cruz especially because the silver-tongued Texan is “singularly dishonest and smarmy.”

Cruz responded in kind: “Al is trying to sell books and apparently he’s decided that being obnoxious and insulting me is good for causing liberals to buy his books,” he told Politico. “I wish him all the best.”

Franken and Cruz have clashed in the Senate, with the two getting into a heated row earlier this year over the nomination of Supreme Court Justice Neil Gorsuch.

Contact Daniel J. Solomon at [email protected] or on Twitter @DanielJSolomon

Daniel J. Solomon is the former Assistant to the Editor/News Writer at the Forward. Originally from Queens, he attended Harvard as an undergraduate, where he wrote his senior thesis on French-Jewish intellectual history. He is excited to have returned to New York after his time in Massachusetts. Daniel’s passions include folk music, cycling, and pointed argument.