ANKENY, Iowa - Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Tex.) has been dogged on the campaign trail here in Iowa by a curious protester: a young man holding a sign that states, "Ted Cruz likes Nickelback."
Nickelback is a Canadian band that has become synonymous with bad musical taste.
This guy is back at Ted Cruz events in Iowa, now dressed as a Mountie pic.twitter.com/Fyb3qzAc5z
— Katie Zezima (@katiezez) January 23, 2016
The protester appeared at various Cruz events earlier this month and photos of him holding the sign have gone viral. Saturday, he showed up outside a rally hosted by Cruz's super PAC. He was dressed in a Royal Canadian Mounted Police uniform and stood behind Canadian flags he placed in the ground, as well as a picture of Cruz's face inside a maple leaf - very similar to an image put in an ad by a super PAC supporting Sen. Marco Rubio (R-Fla.)
The young man would not give his name or his affiliation, despite boasting that photos of him have whipped around the Internet, and that one appeared on the front page of The Wall Street Journal. "They're both Canadian," the man said.
He also handed out copies of Cruz's birth certificate. "I just don’t want, really, a Canadian in office. It seems like he’s got a lot of controversy behind him whether he’s a U.S.-born citizen or not and I’m just out here making a statement."
Cruz was born in Calgary, Alberta, Canada. Nickelback is also from Alberta. The band weighed in on the sign earlier this month.
NICKELBACK Employee of the Month. January 2016. #Election2016 #Nickelback4President pic.twitter.com/L4j2Y7hKbX
— Nickelback (@Nickelback) January 12, 2016
When asked to name his favorite Nickelback song, the man said: "I don't like Nickelback."