IPRESSTV: ted cruz

A Texas man grew so frustrated over receiving text messages from the U.S. Senate campaign of U.S. Rep. Beto O'Rourke, D-Texas, that he's taking the organization to court.

A class-action lawsuit filed against the Beto for Texas campaign on behalf of all Texans alleges the group sent text messages to voters without obtaining permission to contact them, therefore violating the Telephone Consumer Protection Act, the Fort Worth Star-Telegram reported.

The law bans the use of automated telephone equipment to send texts or calls to a person’s cellphone without their permission -- except for emergency purposes.

The suit was filed in Northen District of Texas Court and names Collin County resident Sameer Syeed as the plaintiff.

The suit demands the campaign pay at least $500 per text message to Syeed and other members in the suit.

Syeed alleges he received nine texts from the Beto for Texas campaign in 2018. He came across a series of error messages and disconnected dial tones when he tried calling the numbers he was receiving the messages from.

Attempts to stop the messages by texting back didn't work either.

Chris Evans, communications director for the Beto for Texas campaign, said the program is legal.

“Our grassroots volunteer program with thousands of Texans canvassing, phone banking, texting, and organizing is the largest this state has seen. It is fully compliant with the law,” he said.

O'Rourke is in a tight U.S. Senate race against Republican incumbent Sen. Ted Cruz. In a recent debate between the two, O'Rourke channeled his inner President Trump and referred to Cruz as "Lyin Ted."

Senator Ted Cruz blamed a staff member for "liking" a pornographic video on his official Twitter account.

"There are a number of people on the team who have access on the account," Cruz, 46, told reporters on Tuesday, September 12, via Politico. "It appears that someone inadvertently hit the 'like' button. When we discovered the post, which was I guess an hour or two later, we pulled it down. It was a staffing issue, and it was inadvertent. It was a mistake. It was not a deliberate act. We're dealing with it internally, but it was a mistake. It was not malicious."

According to screenshots shared on social media, a graphic two-minute video briefly appeared under the "likes" section on the Texas lawmaker's account earlier on Tuesday. His senior communications adviser, Catherine Frazier, quickly addressed the suspicious activity in a tweet of her own, writing, "The offensive tweet posted on @tedcruz account earlier has been removed by staff and reported to Twitter."

Naturally, many Twitter users nearly lost their minds over the snafu, sharing hilarious memes and jokes aimed at the former presidential candidate. "In divisive times like these it gives me great comfort that all Americans can join together to make fun of Ted Cruz," author Molly Knight wrote. Comedian Billy Eichner added, "Only thing about Ted Cruz that I relate to."

Others took the political route. "Things to shame Ted Cruz for, other than watching porn: opposing a higher minimum wage, opposing gay marriage, being pro-death penalty," one user noted.

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