Ted Cruz Is Defending Gina Carano, Of Course, While Taking A Swing At Princess Leia (And Getting Owned For It)

As the far right threatens to boycott Disney+ following Lucasfilm’s decision to fire Gina Carano for an increasingly aggressive series of anti-Semitic, transphobic, and anti-mask social media posts, Ted Cruz has predictably entered the fray by tweeting out an odd defense of Carano’s The Mandalorian character. In a strangely worded statement that seemingly trashes Carrie Fisher‘s iconic and truly groundbreaking role as Princess Leia, Cruz praises Carano for “making Star Wars fun again” and for being a role model to young girls.

“Texan Gina Carano broke barriers in the Star Wars universe,” Cruz tweeted. “Not a princess, not a victim, not some emotionally tortured Jedi. She played a woman who kicked ass & who girls looked up to. She was instrumental in making Star Wars fun again. Of course Disney canceled her.”

Almost immediately, Star Wars fans were quick to blast Cruz for his “not a princess, not a victim” line by pointing out that Fisher’s Leia is an absolute badass, and one of the greatest strong female characters in cinematic history.

It also didn’t take long for Star Wars fans to chime in with even more examples of complex and beloved female characters that predate Carano’s Cara Dune, and whose inspiration can be traced back to Leia.

Naturally, Cruz was also taken to task for praising someone who equated being a modern-day Republican with Jews during the Holocaust. In a now-deleted Instagram post that finally led to Carano being fired, the post described Jews being beaten “not by Nazi soldiers but by their neighbors” — an odd distinction to make — before going big on the persecution complex. “How is that any different from hating someone for their political views?” Carano wrote. If Cruz feels that’s okay, well, there’s only one reaction to that: