Sen. Ted Cruz, his wife Heidi and their daughters Caroline, who turns 8 Thursday, and Catherine, 5, participated in a CNN town hall Wednesday night. Moderator Anderson Cooper and audience members asked about Donald Trump (Cruz said he and his aides are acting like “union boss thugs” and threatening delegates), policy and whether Cruz has chosen a vice president (no, but the process has started).
The Cruzes also got personal, revealing interesting snippets about themselves and their lives. Here are a few:
1. Ted Cruz once bought 100 cans of soup
When Ted and Heidi Cruz returned from a honeymoon in the Caribbean, Ted went to the store by himself. When Ted arrived home, Heidi was surprised to discover that he had purchased 100 cans of Campbell’s Chunky Soup.
“Different kinds,” Ted Cruz said. “Some chicken, some beef, you know. …”
The next morning Heidi Cruz woke up before her husband, drove to the store and returned the soup. She called her mother, who asked if she planned to cook. Heidi said both she and Ted are terrible cooks. So she promised to go back and re-buy the soup.
Apparently Ted Cruz still likes soup. In a “25 things you don’t know about me” with US Weekly, Cruz wrote, “When I’m away from the family, in Washington, D.C., my dinner is a can of soup. I have dozens in the pantry.”
2. He likes “The Godfather: Part III”
Cruz is a big movie buff. His favorite film is “The Princess Bride,” and he often quotes it on the campaign trail. Next comes “The Godfather” trilogy. Even the third movie, which this newspaper lamented was “a failure of heartbreaking proportions.” Ouch.
“You like the third ‘Godfather?’ ” Cooper asked.
“I am an odd. …” Cruz said.
“I’ve never met anyone who liked the third ‘Godfather,’ ” Cooper interjected.
“I liked ‘Godfather III,’ I will admit in public. Everyone else hated it. I actually thought it was a wonderful culmination of Michael Corleone, you know, he’s getting in the helicopter, ‘every time I get out, they keeping pulling me back in,’ ” Cruz said.
3. The Cruz daughters love Taylor Swift
Ted and Heidi Cruz were asked who they would invite as their first guest in the White House. Ted Cruz asked his daughter Caroline to answer the question. She wanted her sister Catherine to answer it. Finally their mother did.
“The girls would love to have their first guest be Taylor Swift,” Heidi Cruz said.
Caroline and Catherine got karaoke machines for Christmas and often belt out Swift’s songs. Caroline said her favorites are “Bad Blood,” “Blank Space” and “Wildest Dreams.”
4. The girls like to play attack the Daddy
Caroline is having a birthday party at Build-A-Bear, which is a relief to Ted Cruz. Caroline had a princess sleepover party for her 6th birthday, and he was a target.
“And she had 11 of her classmates come over, and their favorite game at the sleepover party was attack the Daddy,” Cruz said. “And I will tell you, having 11 6-year-old girls dressed as Disney princesses attacking you, I mean, it’s out of ‘Lord of the Flies,’ it is terrifying.”
Caroline also dressed her father up in a pink boa and “goofy-looking” underwear at a recent daddy-daughter picnic at her school.
“And actually that was on a videotape the whole time,” Caroline said.
“Uh-oh,” her father replied.
5. Ted Cruz is addicted to his phone
On the campaign trail, Cruz can often be spotted scrolling through his iPhone.
“And I will admit, I am addicted to my iPhone, and I play iPhone games a lot. I’m either on Twitter, an email, or I’m on iPhone games. And Heidi can’t stand it. She has many times wanted to throw it out the window,” Cruz said.
His kids love it.
“We play Plants vs. Zombies together, and we play Candy Crush and all sorts of games on the iPhone, and it drives Mommy crazy,” he said.
