Texas Sen. Ted Cruz used a tweet from actor Kevin Bacon to take a shot at his Democratic opponent in the 2018 midterm election on Thursday.

Bacon, well known for his roles in movies such as "Footloose," shared a viral video on Twitter of Beto O'Rourke, a congressman from El Paso vying for Cruz's Senate seat, telling voters why he supports NFL protests during the national anthem.

Cruz argued that while Hollywood might like this sort of video, most Texans would not.

"Most Texans stand for the flag, but Hollywood liberals are so excited that Beto is siding with NFL players protesting the national anthem that Kevin Bacon just retweeted it," Cruz tweeted. "That means all of us us can now win Six Degrees of Kevin Bacon!"



Most Texans stand for the flag, but Hollywood liberals are so excited that Beto is siding with NFL players protesting the national anthem that Kevin Bacon just retweeted it. That means all of us us can now win Six Degrees of Kevin Bacon! https://t.co/8oWpL1AuyF — Ted Cruz (@tedcruz) August 23, 2018

"Six Degrees of Kevin Bacon" is a game in which people are challenged to find out how any given person in the Hollywood movie business can be tied to Bacon within six connections.

In the video, O'Rourke connects the NFL protests, largely aimed at drawing attention to police brutality against minorities, to the peaceful protests of the civil rights movement of the 1960s.

"I can think of nothing more American than to peacefully stand up, or to take a knee, for your rights, anytime, anywhere, anyplace," O'Rourke says in the video.



‘I can think of nothing more American.’ — Beto O'Rourke — the man taking on Ted Cruz — brilliantly explains why NFL players kneeling during the anthem is not disrespectful pic.twitter.com/bEqOAYpxEL — NowThis (@nowthisnews) August 21, 2018



Republicans, including President Trump, have disapproved of such demonstrations, saying they are insulting to members of the military and the country.

Cruz, speaking to a crowd in Corpus Christi over the weekend, took a shot at O'Rourke's comments.

“When Beto O’Rourke says he can’t think of anything more American (than players taking a knee), well I got to tell you, I can,” Cruz said, according to The Caller Times.

O'Rourke was only 4 percentage points behind incumbent Cruz in the results of a NBC News/Marist poll found released Wednesday.