Ted Cruz Actually Said "Basketball Ring" to Describe a Hoop At His Indiana Rally

Cruz tried to re-create "Hoosiers," and failed miserably at his Indiana rally.

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Complex Original

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Now that it's an election year, presidential candidates will say or do just about anything to win votes from people that are in their presence. (Remember Bill Clinton playing the saxophone on in the opening of an episode of The Arsenio Hall Show in back in 1992? Or his wife Hillary recently going on The Breakfast Club morning show telling Charlemagne The God that she carries hot sauce wherever she goes?)

Super Tuesday was a voting day for various East coast state primaries, which Democratic and Republican presidential candidates Hillary Clinton and Donald Trump swept up wins in those states, respectively.

Trump's Republican opponent Ted Cruz was in Knightstown, Indiana on Tuesday after not expecting to win any primaries. So to pander to Indiana supporters who showed up at his rally, he tried to re-create the legendary scene the movie Hoosiers when Coach Dale (played by Gene Hackman) brought his team into the state championship gym.

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Cruz's Indiana supporters were quite excited for this rally in the gym where the fictional Hoosiers played:

When Cruz tried to use that same spirit of Coach Dale's inspirational speech to his team about the height of the basketball hoop— in that same exact gym where the scene took place— Cruz messed up royally and called the basketball rim a "basketball ring" in front of the hundreds in attendance at the rally.

As you notice in the clip above, you can see how the silence was quite loud. Not just because people were listening to him talk. Instead, it's because he actually called it a "basketball ring" to describe the hoop, which made them feel stupid for taking the time out of their day to hear this guy actually desecrate the game— and movie— that they each hold dear to their heart.

Then Twitter wasted no time making fun of Cruz's flub:

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