Sen. Ted Cruz (R-TX) started a Twitter fight with “Hellboy” actor Ron Perlman early Monday morning in which the senator volunteered Rep. Jim Jordan (R-OH), who served as assistant wrestling coach at Ohio State University, to wrestle the actor.
Perlman had gotten into a feud with Rep. Matt Gaetz (R-FL) on Sunday after the congressman complained about the U.S. Soccer Federation rolling back its policy requiring players to stand during the national anthem.
At one point, Perlman took a swipe at Jordan and told Gaetz, “If it weren’t for him you’d be the ugliest politician walking.”
That’s when Cruz jumped in to defend the Ohio congressman’s honor.
“Listen Hellboy. You talk good game when you’ve got Hollywood makeup & stuntmen,” the senator tweeted at nearly 1 a.m. ET on Monday. “But I’ll bet $10k—to the nonpolitical charity of your choice—that you couldn’t last 5 min in the wrestling ring [with] @Jim_Jordan [without] getting pinned. You up for it? Or does your publicist say too risky?”
Perlman responded by challenging Cruz to fight him himself instead of getting someone else to do it.
“I tell you what teddy boy, since mentioning jim jordan and wrestling is… problematic, why don’t we say fuck him and just make it you & me,” the actor tweeted, alluding to allegations that Jordan had ignored OSU wrestlers’ accusations of sexual abuse against former wrestling doctor Richard Strauss.
“I’ll give 50k to Black Lives Matter and you can keep all the tax payer money you were thinking of spending,” Perlman tweeted.
“I get it, you’re rich,” Cruz, whose worth net worth is at least north of $1 million, replied. “But, apparently, soft. You sure seem scared to wrestle Jordan (whom you keep insulting).”
The senator’s bizarre taunt prompted Perlman to ask the million-dollar question: “Teddy, Teddy, what kind of a muthafucka offers to have another guy, probably asleep at the time, kick another guy’s ass?”
It is unclear whether Cruz consulted with Jordan before challenging Perlman to a wrestling match with the congressman. Jordan’s office did not immediately respond to TPM’s inquiry.
Correction: This post originally had a photo of David Harbour playing Hellboy, not Perlman. David Harbour is not, and, as far as we know, has never been in a Twitter war with Cruz. We abstain from judging who was the better Hellboy.
