Ted Cruz Falls For Ancient Hoax, Gets Got By 'Hurricane Shark' Photo

As is fitting for a noted Princess Bride fan, Texas Senator Ted Cruz has fallen victim to one of the classic blunders. The most famous of these is, of course, "never start a land war in Asia," but only slightly less-known is this infamous photo of a shark swimming on a flooded street — aka "Hurricane Shark."

Responding to a post by prominent Twitter jokester @BarstoolBigCat that reintroduced the "Hurricane Shark" hoax – in this case, that Hurricane Hilary had caused such flooding on the streets of Los Angeles that a shark was swimming alongside semi-submerged cars – Cruz said, "Holy crap."

The "Hurricane Shark" photograph has circulated alongside pretty much every notable hurricane since 2011, starting with Irene. The photo was initially said to have been taken in Puerto Rico, but it's not genuine, as it was later identified that the shark in the photo came from an African Geographic photo from 2005.

Cruz's mistake was quickly broadcast to the wider internet by members of the media and others attempted to goad him with more obvious Photoshop jobs.

Having realized his error, Cruz seemingly attempted to play off his gaffe by saying, "I'm told this is a joke. In LA, you never know."