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Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Texas) was roasted out of the galaxy on Wednesday after he used the iconic “Star Wars” franchise to jab at former Fox News host Tucker Carlson over his awkward interview moment.
Carlson — who has opposed U.S. involvement in Israel’s war with Iran — asked Cruz for Iran’s population and questioned him over why he couldn’t cite such a figure of a country he seeks to “topple.” Cruz hit back by remarking that he doesn’t go around “memorizing population tables.”
A clip of their clash drew more than 34 million views on X, formerly Twitter, leading Cruz to post a seemingly AI-generated image of Carlson asking Luke Skywalker for the population of the Death Star (a space station for the autocratic Galactic Empire and a superweapon that Skywalker destroys in the first “Star Wars” film).
Eagle-eyed “Star Wars” fans on X swiftly took down Cruz’s swipe at Carlson by noting that Skywalker — in the 1996 book “Shield of Lies” — added up the number of people killed on the Death Star (the book is, notably, no longer considered part of the canon).
Others shared a different take on the Carlson-Skywalker comic by sharing an AI-generated illustration of the former Fox News host asking Grand Moff Tarkin — the commander of the Death Star — for the population of Alderaan, a planet he destroys with the space station’s laser in the first film.
Cruz has claimed to be a big “Star Wars” fan, telling ABC News in 2015 that presidential candidates who are asked which character they’d be in the franchise “ought to be eliminated right off the bat” if they named Skywalker.
He went on to tell the network that Han Solo was the “coolest character in all of cinema” before sharing his impressions of Yoda and Darth Vader.
Check out how “Star Wars” fans and others reacted to Cruz’s post below.
Real Star Wars heads know that in Shield of Lies (1996) Luke reveals he has memorized the exact number of people he killed on the Death Star and their stations, and that the weight of it stays with him constantly. Loser. https://t.co/xvvyjmFaxg
— F♯A♯∞, fka ☕️ (@coopercooperco) June 18, 20251. Iran is a foreign country with an ancient history, not a starship in a fictional movie.
2. Pretty sure Luke Skywalker and the Resistance knew the population of the Death Star.
3. The arrogance of comparing yourself to Luke when you’re clearly part of the Empire…. sheesh. https://t.co/XiQkfkNjOk
The Death Star was a space station built by an authoritarian regime in Star Wars. Its destruction was portrayed as an act of rebellion against tyranny. Focusing solely on its population ignores the fact that it was a weapon of mass destruction used to annihilate planets. pic.twitter.com/vTGA81EE74
— David Leavitt 🎲🎮🧙♂️🌈 (@David_Leavitt) June 18, 2025If 90 million civilians had lived on the Death Star, would that perhaps have been relevant to the morality of blowing it up? https://t.co/aUBMc6dzcY
— Ben Burgis (@BenBurgis) June 18, 2025You can tell not knowing even basic facts about the country he wants us to intervene in really got under his skin by how his PR strategy around it is so fumbling and embarrassing https://t.co/57vYEUNcr4
— Andrés Pertierra (@ASPertierra) June 18, 202520 Years Of Free Journalism
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