Richard Linklater Directs Anti-Ted Cruz Political Ad

The 'Boyhood' director's spot takes Cruz to task over his obsequious support for Donald Trump.

Is Ted Cruz as "tough as Texas"?

That's the question asked in a new political ad made by the Oscar-nominated director and Texas native Richard Linklater. The answer, unsurprisingly, is a resounding no. "If somebody called my wife a dog, and said my daddy was in on the Kennedy assassination, I wouldn't be kissing their ass," says the actor Sonny Carl Davis, who starred in Linklater's 2011 black comedy Bernie.

The ad references Cruz's ill-fated campaign in the Republican presidential primaries, which saw Donald Trump insult his wife and his father and describe him as "Lyin' Ted." Cruz would later obsequiously support Trump when the latter became president.

The anti-Cruz ad was paid for by the Fire Ted Cruz PAC.

Cruz, the incumbent senator from Texas, faces a tough re-election fight against Democratic challenger Beto O'Rourke, with the polls tightening as election day approaches.