<p><img src="https://static2.businessinsider.com/image/6039019c05ddb100195f65dd-2400/ted-cruz-locker-room-memes.jpg" border="0" alt="ted cruz locker room memes" data-mce-source="Andrew Harnik/AFP via Getty Images" data-mce-caption="Sen. Ted Cruz, R-Tex."></p><p></p><bi-shortcode id="summary-shortcode" data-type="summary-shortcode" class="mceNonEditable" contenteditable="false">Summary List Placement</bi-shortcode><p>With so many former class presidents crammed into one place, Capitol Hill proved vulnerable to high school hijinks on Wednesday morning.</p><p>Following his <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/ted-cruz-apologizes-for-cancun-trip-amid-texas-winter-storms-2021-2">infamous Cancun junket</a>, Republican Sen. Ted Cruz of Texas was the subject of a prank in the locker room of the Senate gym midweek, according to a report from Carol Lee and Leigh Ann Caldwell of <a href="https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/meet-the-press/blog/meet-press-blog-latest-news-analysis-data-driving-political-discussion-n988541">NBC News</a>.</p><p>Early birds turning up for a workout Wednesday morning came across color printouts of Cruz in his airport getup, which included a light polo shirt and a mask bearing the Texas flag, according to NBC, who reviewed the materials provided by two sources.</p><p>"The rendering featured a manipulated photo of Cruz from his well-documented trip to Mexico, dragging his luggage across an arctic landscape while holding a tropical cocktail garnished with a slice of fruit in his other hand," Lee and Caldwell wrote.</p><p>The printouts also included a crossover meme, with Sen. Bernie Sanders of Vermont's <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/bernie-sanders-inauguration-memes-help-raise-18-million-for-charity-2021-1">viral pose</a> in mittens at President Joe Biden's inauguration photoshopped into the frigid backdrop, according to NBC.</p><p><img src="https://static2.businessinsider.com/image/60390531d9208800185922a7-1600/Bernie Sanders memes.jpg" border="0" alt="Bernie Sanders memes" data-mce-source="BRENDAN SMIALOWSKI/AFP via Getty Images" data-mce-caption="Bernie Sanders sitting alone with mittens on sparked a flurry of memes."></p><p>Beyond the optics of the Cruz Cancun trip, blowback intensified after <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/ted-cruz-cancun-trip-houston-police-security-detail-winter-storm-2021-2">Houston police confirmed they received a request for security assistance from Cruz's office</a>, and sent a detail to the airport as first responders were stretched thin during the <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/winter-snow-storm-blackout-texas-damages-could-near-50-billion-2021-2">life-threatening power and utilities crisis</a>.</p><p>Sometime later on Wednesday, the photos were taken down, according to the report.</p><p>Only current and former senators are allowed in the gym, which has been the source of other Capitol Hill drama, such as when <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/senators-criticize-rand-paul-reportedly-going-gym-after-coronavirus-test-2020-3">Sen. Rand Paul of Kentucky took heat for getting a workout in after he had tested positive for COVID-19</a>.</p><p>Cruz's office did not immediately respond to Insider's request for comment.</p><p>It remains unclear who carried out the prank.</p><p> </p><p><a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/ted-cruz-locker-room-memes-cancun-trip-2021-2#comments">Join the conversation about this story »</a></p> <p>NOW WATCH: <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/racist-origins-marijuana-prohibition-legalization-2018-2">The racist origins of marijuana prohibition</a></p>
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