“Late Late Show” host James Corden mocked Senator Ted Cruz after the Texas Republican tweeted “This…is…evil” in response to Sam Smith and Kim Petras’ performance of “Unholy” at the Grammy Awards Sunday.
Corden, for one, couldn’t fathom what would bring Cruz to share his opinion on the Grammy awards when there are so many other things that should be occupying his time. But that didn’t stop the late night host from trying to figure it out.
“I’ve thought about this a lot. Let’s just replay the steps in Ted Cruz’s mind. Do you know what I mean?,” Corden began. “Ted Cruz is sat on his couch, I imagine, and he’s like, ‘Oh the Grammys are on. Are they? Yeah, CBS. Let’s put it on.’ And he’s watching that and he’s going, ‘I have to tweet. I’m Senator Ted Cruz, I have to tweet about this … I’ve got Twitter on my phone, I’ve had two glasses of wine, and I’ve got something to say.’”
When one of the “Late Late Show” emcees jokingly asked why Cruz isn’t instead dealing with, for instance, the U.S. education system falling apart, Corden replied: “I am sSenator Ted Cruz and if I don’t tweet about this people are going to say, ‘Where were you? Why didn’t you stand up?’”
“I’m composing a very, very articulate tweet,” he added. “I’m not going to mention that I’m watching the Grammys. I’m just going to write the words ‘this is evil.’”
Corden concluded the joke by pointing out that Cruz had “the same reaction to ABBA losing Best Album.”
“I would love to watch Ted Cruz dance to ABBA,” Corden said before humming and doing the robot.
The 2023 Grammys bounced up 30% from the 2022 awards show broadcast, drawing 12.4 million viewers – the most since 2020, when the telecast brought in 18.8 million total viewers.
“Unholy” won the Grammy for best pop duo/group performance, making Petras the first openly transgender woman to win in the category.
Watch the full “Late Late Show” segment in the video above.
Update: Later Tuesday, Cruz took Corden’s ribbing in stride, himself retweeting the “Late Late Show” clip and saying, “There is hope—late night TV may actually have a sense of humor.”
