Cruz Jokes About Planting Hecklers for Trump, Downplays His Own Boos

Senator Ted Cruz has given his first extended account of being booed through a nearly 10-minute ESPN "College GameDay" interview in Austin on Saturday, dismissing the hecklers as "knuckleheads" and "little lefties" and saying he never saw who was yelling.

The Texas Republican, speaking on his podcast "Verdict with Ted Cruz," also joked that if President Donald Trump signs Cruz's college sports bill on the same program, producers should guard against a repeat. "And by the way, my advice would be make sure they don't let the Democrats plant people in the crowd to boo the President," Cruz said. The remark came at the end of a segment on Senate floor timing and was delivered as a quip — Cruz did not claim that the heckling directed at him had been organized.

Why it matters

Cruz's account is his first detailed public response to being jeered on a nationally televised broadcast while promoting his own bipartisan legislation. His co-host's unsupported claim that the reaction was staged, paired with Cruz's refusal to back it, shows daylight between a conservative-media narrative and the senator's own telling. The episode also lands alongside a competitive Texas Senate race and a planned Trump appearance on the same program.

Key points

• Cruz gave his first extended account of being booed at ESPN's "College GameDay" in Austin, calling the hecklers "knuckleheads" and "little lefties."
• His podcast co-host suggested the crowd reaction was staged, but Cruz did not endorse that theory.
• The White House has agreed to have Trump sign Cruz's Protect College Sports Act live on "College GameDay."

The Austin Heckling and Ferguson's Staged-Crowd Theory

Cruz said the ESPN invitation arrived late on Friday night and that he left Houston at 5 a.m. to reach Austin for the live hit, which he used to promote the Protect College Sports Act, the bipartisan bill he authored with Senator Maria Cantwell, a Washington Democrat.

"And almost immediately when I start, there's heckling from the crowd," Cruz said. "I didn't see who it was because I'm paying attention to the interview."

The reception was louder than that description suggests. Longhorns fans chanted "Ted, you suck" throughout the segment, Yahoo Sports reported, and the booing was sustained enough that portions of the interview were difficult to hear on the broadcast.

At a news conference in Washington, Cruz said, "I believe we are going to get this done. I have a very high level of confidence that the House will pass this bill," ESPN reported.

Co-host Ben Ferguson argued the reaction was staged. "So I when I went back and looked at the videos, I'm like, OK, my gut is this is all pre-planned," Ferguson said, adding that "there were texts going around because Talarico was also the game and they were almost rooting against Texas where he's running for Senate." He was referring to Texas state Representative James Talarico, the Democratic nominee for U.S. Senate.

PolitiKool has not verified that any such texts circulated, that Talarico attended the game, or that the heckling was coordinated. Ferguson offered no evidence beyond his account.

Cruz did not adopt the theory. He said he "spent the entire evening at the stadium" and that virtually every other interaction he had with students "was high fives and hugging them and celebrating." "So, look, I don't know, but I can tell you it was so much fun," Cruz said.

Cruz's standing with Austin voters offers a simpler explanation than coordination. In his 2024 reelection, Cruz carried Texas statewide with 53.1 percent, but took 27.2 percent in Travis County, home to the University of Texas, against Democrat Colin Allred's 70.4 percent, county-level returns show. Precinct-level results specific to the UT campus were not available.

The Senate seat Cruz does not hold is also competitive this year. PolitiKool's polling average gives Talarico a 3.2-point edge over Republican Attorney General Ken Paxton, 47.8 percent to 44.6 percent as of Sept. 15, 2026.

The 'Cruz Curse' Has a Record — Both Ways

Cruz spent several minutes rebutting the long-running internet trope that teams lose when he attends. "So it's something that Twitter has decided that if I attend a game that the team loses," he said, arguing that he attends so many events that "my record is by and large for the last decade, the state of Texas's record."

He cited his Astros attendance — "for the past eight years, Catherine, my youngest daughter and I have gone to almost every single home playoff game" — plus the Rose Bowl on Jan. 4, 2006, capping the 2005 season, where "Heidi and I went to the UT USC National Championship," and Texas A&M's 2021 upset of then-No. 1 Alabama.

The opposing tally is also documented. Allred ran a 2024 campaign ad built entirely on the curse, Chron reported. A 2025 resolution filed by Harris County Democratic Party precinct chairs Bill Kelly and Charles Kuffner — not a measure from the Texas Legislature — sought to bar Cruz from attending Texas sporting events and put the combined football record of the Longhorns, Aggies and Bears at 1-8 with Cruz in the stands, Spectrum News reported.

Saturday cut against it. Texas erased a 23-3 halftime deficit to beat top-ranked Ohio State, Cruz recounted on the podcast.

What Happens Next on the Protect College Sports Act

Cruz, who chairs the Senate Commerce Committee, said the bill cleared his panel 19-9 and now has "24 conferences behind it" and "over 370 colleges and universities behind it," along with the NFL, NBA, MLB and NHL and more than 100 coaches, including Nick Saban.

He said floor action depends on whether Democrats filibuster a crypto measure first in the queue.

"Either way, it will be up for a vote either this week or next week. And I believe we're gonna get the votes," Cruz said.

Cruz said on the podcast that the Senate will take up the Clarity Act first when it returns; if that bill is filibustered, the sports bill could come up Tuesday or Wednesday, and otherwise late this week or early next.

The bill is not uncontested. Senator Chris Murphy, a Connecticut Democrat, and members of the Congressional Black Caucus oppose it, arguing it caps what athletes can earn while leaving school and executive spending intact.

Cruz said the signing plan is already set with the White House: "the plan that I pitched to the President, the President's agreed is to have him sign it on College GameDay." Any such appearance would come with Trump at 39 percent approval and 57.1 percent disapproval in PolitiKool's polling average, as of Sept. 15, 2026.