Ted Cruz rages against non-existent Biden beer limit

Texas Sen. Ted Cruz railed against the Biden administration earlier this week for imposing a strict limit on Americans’ alcohol consumption in a now-viral clip—even though no such policy exists.

The saga began when Fox News correspondent Peter Doocy asked Biden’s White House Press Secretary Karine Jean-Pierre if the president planned to “limit Americans to two beers a week.” Jean-Pierre, who appeared baffled by the question, laughed and declined to comment.

The question apparently came from comments made by Dr. George Koob, director of the National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism, during an interview with the Daily Mail last week, in which Koob said the U.S. might change it’s recommended weekly alcohol intake to two drinks per week. Current recommendations advise men to limit themselves to two drinks a day and women to stick to one. 

For Cruz and the conservative mediasphere, however, these comments were enough to conjure the right’s latest hand-wringing, they’re-coming-for-your-freedoms moral panic. 

“What is it with liberals that want to control every damn aspect of your life?” Cruz raged in his Newsmax interview. “Now these idiots have come out and said, ‘drink two beers a week,’ that’s their guideline,” Cruz continued, before reaching for a bottle of beer and taking a drink on camera. “Well, I’ve got to tell you, if they want us to drink two beers a week, frankly they can kiss my ass!”

Cruz cranked the top off a Shiner Bock beer and chucked the cap on the ground in theatrical defiance before taking a swig. Behind him, a huddle of men dressed in cowboy hats and plaid flannel shirts followed suit, drinking their beers.

On Wednesday night, the senator posted the clip on X, formerly known as Twitter, repeating his own lines from the interview in the caption for his 6.1 million followers. “What is it with liberals and wanting to control every damn aspect of your life? If they want us to drink two beers a week, frankly they can kiss my ass.”