30 most scorching Jon Stewart takedowns of Republicans

11. Stewart questions why Ted Cruz wants your number

When Senator Ted Cruz first kicked off his bid for the Republican nomination in 2015, he took to universities to rally some of the younger voters behind him. As government snooping and invasion of privacy were concerns felt by many from this generation, Cruz promised that he was for small government and he would protect the privacy rights of all citizens.

But Cruz’s speech later took an odd turn when he told everyone in the crowd to “break a rule” by pulling out their cell phones, and texting the word “constituion” to a mysterious number. Cruz did not explain why he was doing this, only instructing them to do so.

This peculiarity was examined on The Daily Show, with Jon Stewart questioning the baffling request. Here’s how he phrased it which perfectly captures the embarrassing situation:

“So let me clarify this a little bit. Students at Liberty University were required to attend a partisan political speech where a small government conservative, who had just promised he would respect privacy rights, told them if they cared about freedom, text your information to a mysterious address that collects your cell phone number for undisclosed purposes.”

Next: 10. Making a return