Fact Check

Cruz and Rubio Tweet That They Will Not Support Donald Trump

A screenshot purportedly showing anti-Trump tweets from Republicans Marco Rubio and Ted Cruz is fake.

Published March 19, 2016

Claim:
Ted Cruz and Marco Rubio urged people to vote for a Democrat if Donald Trump wins the 2016 Republican presidential nomination.

On 17 March 2016, an image purportedly showing two tweets from Republicans Marco Rubio and Ted Cruz, each stating that Americans should vote for the Democratic candidate if Donald Trump wins the 2016 GOP presidential nomination began circulating online:

ted cruz marco rubio

Neither of the above-displayed tweets appeared on the official Twitter accounts of Ted Cruz or Marco Rubio. Rather, this image was created with an application such as "Let Me Tweet That For You," which allows users to easily create fake tweets:

Screenshot 2016-03-19 at 11.43.19 AM

One way to tell that this image is not on the level is that neither tweet it includes is accompanied by Twitter's blue "verified" symbol:

verified twitter

The tweets also contradict what both politicians have said about supporting the Republican nominee in the past. Cruz and Rubio have both repeatedly asserted they would support whoever won the Republican nomination, although Rubio said that it was getting "harder every day" to stick to that pledge:

"I don’t know. I mean, I already talked about the fact that I think Hillary Clinton would be terrible for this country. But the fact that you're even asking me that question, I still at this moment continue to intend to support the Republican nominee, but it's getting harder every day."

Cruz avowed that the only way he would not support Donald Trump for president would be if the candidate shot someone on Fifth Avenue (a tongue-in-cheek reference to an earlier controversial campaign statement made by Trump).

Dan Evon is a former writer for Snopes.