Ted Cruz uses jingle to take opening jibe at November opponent

Sen. Ted Cruz opened his November campaign with a jingle poking fun at his Democratic opponent.

Credit: Mark Wilson

Credit: Mark Wilson

Sen. Ted Cruz opened his November campaign with a jingle poking fun at his Democratic opponent.

Fresh from a convincing victory in Tuesday’s primary, Texas Sen. Ted Cruz took aim on his Democratic challenger in November, Rep. Beto O’Rourke.

Cruz's campaign released a 60-second radio advertisement that made fun of O'Rourke by using "Beto" instead of his given name of Robert, CNN reported.

“Liberal Robert wanted to fit in, so he changed his name to Beto and hid it with a grin,” the song says.

The jingle was sung to the tune of Alabama's "If You're Gonna Play in Texas," Fox News reported.

O'Rourke said he has gone by “Beto” since he was born, CNN reported.

“My parents have called me Beto from day one, and it's just -- it's kind of a nickname for Robert in El Paso. It just stuck,” O’Rourke told CNN.

O'Rourke has posted a photo on Instagram of himself as a child, wearing a sweater with “Beto” stitched on it, CNN reported.

O’Rourke declined to comment on the fact that Cruz goes by “Ted,” instead of his given name of Rafael Edward Cruz.

Wednesday morning, Cruz told CNN that his campaign “had some fun with it (ad).”