This video of Ted Cruz imitating Winston Churchill will break your brain

If you thought you couldn't possibly find Cruz's voice more grating, think again

Published March 24, 2014 8:22PM (EDT)

Sen. Ted Cruz   (AP Photo/Susan Walsh)
Sen. Ted Cruz (AP Photo/Susan Walsh)

Last week, Texas Sen. Ted Cruz, a Tea Party favorite and likely 2016 presidential candidate, was in Los Angeles to accept an award from the conservative Claremont Institute. The award is called the Statesmanship Award and was delivered to Cruz as part of the institute's annual dinner honoring Winston Churchill.

In his acceptance speech, Cruz said a bunch of very Cruz-y things. Boldness. Principles. Reagan. Conservative. Reagan, again.

At one point, though, Cruz launched into a brief imitation of Churchill, pretending to be the former British prime minister delivering one of his famous Word War II speeches. Judged against a standard of what Winston Churchill actually sounded like, the impression was a total disaster. But if we judge the impression by a different standard, it has its virtues.

For example, as the Vine video from BuzzFeed's Andrew Kaczynski below can attest, Cruz's Churchill was an absolute success if the standard used is one that privileges the ability to make its listener go insane over more traditional measurements, like accuracy.

Seriously, try to watch  the video below (with the sound on!) more than 10 times in a row without going completely bonkers. Or don't — especially if you haven't gotten health insurance yet.


By Elias Isquith

Elias Isquith is a former Salon staff writer.

MORE FROM Elias Isquith


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Andrew Kaczynski Buzzfeed Claremont Institute Election 2016 Tea Party Ted Cruz Video Vine Winston Churchill