Ted Cruz defends Gina Carano after Lucasfilm fires actress for offensive posts

It seems feuding with Seth Rogen and misunderstanding The Avengers wasn't enough. Ted Cruz is now defending former Mandalorian actress Gina Carano after she was fired by Lucasfilm for her offensive social media posts.

"Texan Gina Carano broke barriers in the Star Wars universe: not a princess, not a victim, not some emotionally tortured Jedi," the junior senator from the Lone Star State tweeted Thursday. "She played a woman who kicked ass & who girls looked up to. She was instrumental in making Star Wars fun again. Of course Disney canceled her."

Carano came under heavy criticism from fans and other social media users this week after resharing a post Tuesday that claimed that having differing political views in America was like being Jewish during the Holocaust.

"Jews were beaten in the streets, not by Nazi soldiers but by their neighbors…even by children. Because history is edited, most people today don't realize that to get to the point where Nazi soldiers could easily round up thousands of Jews, the government first made their own neighbors hate them simply for being Jews. How is that any different from hating someone for their political views," the post (later removed) read, according to Variety.

Soon after, Lucasfilm announced it was severing ties with Carano and denounced her posts as "abhorrent." A subsidiary of Walt Disney Studios, the George Lucas-founded company produces The Mandalorian and other Star Wars properties.

"Gina Carano is not currently employed by Lucasfilm and there are no plans for her to be in the future," a spokesperson for the company said in a statement to EW. "Nevertheless, her social media posts denigrating people based on their cultural and religious identities are abhorrent and unacceptable."

UTA is also no longer representing the actress, according to a spokesperson for the talent agency.

Carano appeared in seasons 1 and 2 of the Disney+ Star Wars series as Cara Dune, a battle-hardened mercenary. The former mixed martial artist, who's also acted in films like Deadpool, previously caught flak for her social media, where she has shared memes spreading misinformation about mask-wearing and voter fraud. Last fall, she was accused of transphobia when she changed her Twitter bio to read, "Beep/Bop/Boop," seemingly mocking individuals' use of pronouns in their bios.

In response to Cruz's post, many Twitter users chimed in to disagree.

TV and film writer John Rogers pointed out, "Disney didn't cancel her for playing a kick-ass woman, they *hired her* to play a kick-ass woman."

Historian Kevin M. Kruse wrote, "Do you even watch the show? The finale featured her and three *other* women kicking ass ... and none of the others were fired. So maybe it was something other than your latest pathetic straw man?"

The season 2 finale also featured Mercedes Varnado as Koska Reeves, Katee Sackhoff as Bo-Katan Kryze, and Ming-Na Wen as Fennec Shand.

Earlier this month, Cruz claimed that in the Avengers movies and Watchmen, the bad guys were "often rabid environmentalists." He was widely mocked for the inaccurate interpretation, including by a Watchmen writer and producer.

"Hi, @SenTedCruz, Watchmen writer/producer here. Literally what the f--- are you talking about?" Lila Byock tweeted.

Cruz also faced criticism in January for his public conduct, including accusations that he helped stoke the Capitol insurrection that left five dead.

Last month, stars such as Rogen, Joseph Gordon-Levitt, and Billy Eichner slammed Cruz for spreading misinformation about the Paris Climate Agreement, engaging in Twitter fights during a pandemic, and supporting Trump's claims that the presidential election was fraudulent.

"@tedcruz tried to overthrow our government. He inspired a deadly mob to storm the Capitol. And I think that deserves ridicule. So f--- him," Rogen tweeted in a long back-and-forth with the senator.

Related content:

• Gina Carano won't be back on The Mandalorian; Lucasfilm blasts 'abhorrent' social media posts
• The Mandalorian star Gina Carano faces backlash for controversial Instagram posts
• Ted Cruz's take on The Avengers, Watchmen villains draws ridicule