In a weird name-drop scenario, United States Senator Ted Cruz used former Newfoundland and Labrador premier Danny Williams as an example of problems with the Canadian health care system.

Cruz, a Republican from Texas and a would-be candidate in the U.S. presidential race, was debating with Democrat Senator Bernie Sanders in a CNN town hall on the future of the Affordable Care Act — often referred to as Obamacare.

In a bid to showcase the problems with universal health care models, Cruz pointed to Williams's 2010 trip to Florida to undergo heart surgery.

"Governor" Danny Williams: still the GOP's favourite anecdote for downplaying the quality of Canadian healthcare. <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/nlpoli?src=hash">#nlpoli</a> <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/cdnpoli?src=hash">#cdnpoli</a> <a href="https://t.co/WagTGkEN3w">pic.twitter.com/WagTGkEN3w</a> —@geoffcbartlett

"The governor of one of the Canadian provinces came to America to get heart surgery — and he was a governor in Canada," said an incensed Cruz.

The name drop left some people on Twitter understandably confused, given that Williams was premier of Newfoundland and Labrador, a post he held from 2003 to 2010.

Alleged Canadian Ted Cruz just referred to a "governor" of a Canadian province coming to the U.S. for heart surgery. Hmmm, which governor?! —@DanMacEachern

Watching a CNN debate where <a href="https://twitter.com/tedcruz">@tedcruz</a> just appointed Danny Williams to Governor of Newfoundland. Is that one of those <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/alternativefacts?src=hash">#alternativefacts</a> —@bkidney

LOL ted cruz calling premiers 'governors' and talking about Danny Williams. Trust me America, the dude put NL deep in the hole. —@CyanEsports

Uh...we don't have "Governors" of provinces. And that is only the smallest thing Ted Cruz is getting wrong here. (Danny Williams anecdote) <a href="https://t.co/PAATYIRveZ">https://t.co/PAATYIRveZ</a> —@purlgurly

Ted Cruz just brought up Danny Williams in a debate... weird <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/CNNDebateNight?src=hash">#CNNDebateNight</a> —@radarcolin

You can take the politics out of Danny, but you can't take Danny out of politics.