Red Flags In Ted Cruz's Marriage We Can't Ignore

Ted and Heidi Cruz have been married for decades, tying the knot in 2001. They have built a family and successful careers in the years since. The pair share two children — daughters Caroline (born in April 2008) and Catherine (born in October 2010) — although Ted's relationship with his eldest daughter appears to be somewhat strained. However, on the surface, it seems that Ted and Heidi have a healthy and happy marriage — especially when it comes to American politicians.

That being said, just like there are many strange things about Ted Cruz himself, his marriage is also jam-packed with weird behavior, odd anecdotes, and jarring red flags. Some of these seem surface-level weird, while others seem to stem from Ted's die-hard dedication to furthering his political career. Just look at how he's been a staunch supporter of Donald Trump, even after Trump blatantly insulted Ted's wife's appearance (and accused Ted's father of being the gunman in John F. Kennedy's assassination).

From the pair living apart for years on end to the strain that distance put on Heidi, to allegations of extramarital affairs and scandals involving pornography, Ted and Heidi Cruz's decades-long romance feels like it was built on shaky foundations. It has seemingly only gotten stranger under the pressure of public scrutiny. Here's a look at some of the most glaring red flags in their high-profile marriage.

In almost any marriage, the first few years are typically considered the easiest and the most important. The very early years of Ted Cruz's marriage to Heidi Cruz, however, were very different, and the pair spent nearly seven years living apart from one another. After meeting one another in 2000 in Washington, D.C., the pair got hitched a year later, and Ted then took a job as the solicitor general of Texas, meaning he had to move to Austin for the gig.

Heidi, however, had a good job with the Treasury Department and decided to stay in Washington, D.C. for quite some time. The distance was extreme and difficult for Heidi to deal with. Eventually, Heidi got work in Texas — but could only find a job in Houston, meaning they still lived over 160 miles apart for years to come. Ted and Heidi didn't even actually share the same home permanently until 2010 — two years after the birth of their first daughter.

The move to Houston and her isolation from her husband reportedly sent Heidi into a spiral of depression, as Heidi's mother told The Washington Post in 2016. This all came to a head in 2005 when Heidi was found by police as she wandered onto a freeway and sat just feet from speeding traffic, sobbing into her hands. Police determined that she was potentially putting herself in danger and needed help. According to The Post, Ted didn't understand the cause of his wife's depression and tried everything to help — except, of course, moving from Austin so he could actually be with her. That would have to wait five more years.

When it comes to political marriages, allegations of infidelity are essentially par for the course. Like many in Washington, D.C., Ted Cruz has not been able to escape the looming shadow of cheating rumors either, although he has claimed the rumors were spread maliciously by his political rivals. The speculation was kicked off in 2016, when The National Enquirer published a tabloid report alleging that Ted had cheated on his wife, Heidi Cruz, with five different women.

Now, there were some holes in the already notoriously flimsy reportage of The National Enquirer –  including the fact that at least two of the women mentioned vehemently denied the claims, and that none of the women involved were actually named. Additionally, no actual evidence was provided. However, the claims still cast a pall over Ted's faith-forward presidential campaign and efforts to paint himself as a devout Christian traditionalist.

For his part, Cruz outright called the reports "garbage" and blamed Donald Trump, his then-rival in the race for the GOP presidential nomination, on planting the story. "It is complete and utter lies," Ted said to reporters at a conference (via NBC News). "It is a tabloid smear. And it is a smear that has come from Donald Trump and his henchmen." This didn't stop Ted from endorsing Trump and later being one of his most outspoken acolytes.

Getting accused of cheating on your wife can ruin your marriage, but getting caught checking out hardcore pornography during work time is next-level embarrassing and hard to talk your way out of. This is something Ted Cruz learned the hard way in September 2017, when people noticed that his official Twitter account had clicked "like" on a post featuring some very profane adult content, shared by an account that went by the handle @SexualPosts.

Ted Cruz quickly came out and tried to throw his staffers under the bus, claiming the post was liked by accident by someone on his team who had access to his account. "It was not a deliberate act. We're dealing with it internally, but it was a mistake. It was not malicious," Ted said (via HuffPost). That didn't really help Ted save face, though, and likely caused some strain on his marriage, as it came just a year after the high-profile allegations of infidelity.

While Heidi Cruz likely wasn't thrilled about the embarrassing mishap, the Twitter account that posted the adult video in question was quick to capitalize on the fame. Politico reported that the account encouraged users to "follow the same porn @TedCruz watches," and changed their bio to read, "@TedCruz's Favorite Porn Account." The incident also caused Ted Cruz's name to begin trending on the platform for all the worst reasons.