Michigan’s Democratic Gov. Gretchen Whitmer has become one of Republicans’ favorite targets. Many believe it’s because Whitmer is widely considered a potential running mate pick for former Vice President Joe Biden, the presumptive Democratic presidential nominee.

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Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Texas) tried and failed to join the pile-on party.

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Cruz on Sunday retweeted an article about a recent Michigan emergency order that allows fines of up to $1,000 for violating social distancing during the coronavirus pandemic. The article included a photo of Whitmer doing a ceremonial signing while a group of people looked on.

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“As I count it,” Cruz complained, “that’s $11K right there….”

There was just one problem with Cruz’s attempted dunk: The picture was more than a year old.

Within an hour, Whitmer herself corrected him. She tweeted that the old photo was “being misused to spread fear and anger.”

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“I know you would never intentionally mislead the public during a pandemic, so I’m hopeful you’ll correct this mistake as soon as possible,” Whitmer added.

“Stay safe, & happy Easter from Michigan.”

Hello Senator! This photo is from January of 2019, and is being misused to spread fear and anger. I know you would never intentionally mislead the public during a pandemic, so I’m hopeful you’ll correct this mistake as soon as possible. Stay safe, & happy Easter from Michigan 👋 — Governor Gretchen Whitmer (@GovWhitmer) April 13, 2020

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Whitmer’s response was met with thunderous applause online.

CNN correspondent Brian Stelter tweeted, “Why senators shouldn’t rush to dunk on others based on a too-good-to-be-true tweet.”

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Gretchen Whitmer just destroyed Ted Cruz and he deleted the tweet in minutes pic.twitter.com/hNRV7jWu7Z — Mimi ﾟ* ✧･ﾟﾟ (@mimirose101) April 13, 2020

The grace and finesse by which Gretchen Whitmer makes Ted Cruz delete his toolbag tweet is 👌🏻 pic.twitter.com/YlyiiIIfzZ — Albert MacGloan ➐ (@AlbertMacGloan) April 13, 2020

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look on the brightside, @tedcruz showed he could count to 11. Not everyone in his caucus can do that. Marsha? https://t.co/lq7guSGmoX — Joe Lockhart (@joelockhart) April 13, 2020

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Ted Cruz getting so publicly owned that he deleted his tweet within minutes of this response. pic.twitter.com/C7KjlzrHVE — Steven Santos (@stevensantos) April 13, 2020

God I love a good Cruz takedown. — Orange is the New Blech (@Bmresistence) April 13, 2020

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“If you killed Ted Cruz on the floor of the Senate, and the trial was in the Senate, nobody would convict you” – Lindsey Graham, 2016 — Alf (@GordonShumway66) April 13, 2020

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That's patently false.



He lacks the warmth and usefulness. — GenXisatWork (@LaLiberalVetera) April 13, 2020

Like a scalpel. And with a smile. — Kent Straith (@kstraith) April 13, 2020

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That face in the second photo is almost as anguished as Romney during his little dinner with Trump. It's so lovely. — Andy Bradford (@Andysmaps) April 13, 2020

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In case you're looking for that dirty delete by @tedcruz @AHMalcolm attempting to spread misinformation about @GovWhitmer …. deleting something IS NOT a correction! Pretending you didn't lie IS NOT a correction! #Apologize to #thatwomaninmichigan pic.twitter.com/U9xelXPXZY — Conversations With My Cats (@onlymycatgetsme) April 13, 2020

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Cruz quickly deleted the tweet. He does not appear to have apologized or issued a correction.