Ted Cruz Did A Subpar 'Princess Bride' Impression

Ted Cruz is at it again. I don’t mean that he’s proclaiming atheists to be unfit for the presidency, or calling for religious tests for Syrian refugees. No, Cruz is impersonating celebrities, and doing a mediocre job of it. During a campaign stop at the Christian Life Assembly of God in Iowa, Cruz performed an extended reenactment of a scene from The Princess Bride, impersonating Billy Crystal, Cary Elwes, and others in the process. Cruz has long fancied himself an impressionist, and regularly displays this ability in front of audiences. “Ability,” however, may be a bit too strong of a word. Let's be blunt: Ted Cruz isn't good at impressions.

To be completely fair, there are some bright spots in Cruz’s repertoire. His Crystal impression isn't awful, and neither is his John F. Kennedy. But his zealousness for impersonations may outweigh his talent. This is evidenced most clearly in his attempts at mimicking the cast of The Simpsons, or Winston Churchill. Nevertheless, there is something charming about an elected official with a side hobby of doing impersonations, even if they're not always up to the task. Let’s take a look at all of the other times Cruz has taken a shot at pretending to be someone else.

The Princess Bride

In Iowa, Cruz dove headfirst into a long reenactment of a scene from The Princess Bride, which he says is his favorite film of all time. It’s clear from his performance that he has seen the movie many times, but ultimately, it left something to be desired. The impression begins around 1:20 into the video.

The Simpsons

Earlier this year, Cruz stopped by BuzzFeed to do a bunch of impressions of characters from The Simpsons. The results were ... painful.

Darth Vader

During a Senate floor speech, Cruz drew an analogy between Republican party politics and the plot of Star Wars, comparing his Republican colleague Mike Lee to Luke Skywalker and the Washington D.C. establishment to Darth Vader. This resulted in Cruz impersonating Vader; both it and Cruz's general political point were dubious, at best.

Winston Churchill

While receiving a Winston Churchill-branded award for statesmanship, Cruz did a Churchill impression. Strictly speaking, it's historically accurate — Churchill did say those words. But he didn't sound anything like that.

John F. Kennedy

Cruz impersonated JFK over the summer. And let's give credit where it's due: This isn't terrible. Cruz may be overreaching, though, when he suggests that JFK would be a Republican if he were alive today.

Jay Leno

Cruz's impression of Leno ... well, the less said about it, the better.

Ronald Reagan

No roundup of Cruz impressions would be complete without Ronald Reagan, right? Predictably, it sounds definitively more like Ted Cruz than Ronald Reagan.