Cruz: Captain Kirk is probably a Republican

In a tweet, Shatner claims that “Star Trek” was not political and to put such labels on interstellar characters is “silly”. Then the world gets to sit back and enjoy the awkward hilarity of their misinformed pandering.

In yet another attempt to prove that he’s an actual human being – he “auditioned” for “The Simpsons” last month – Texas Senator and Republican presidential hopeful Ted Cruz spoke at odd length about his affinity for Captain Kirk. He appears to have a genuine interest in and prowess for pop-culture knowledge that most of politicians would kill to possess.

Republican candidate Ted Cruz responded by theorizing that Kirk – fictional captain of the USS Enterprise in the 1960s Star Trek television series – is a Republican, while Enterprise captain Jean-Luc Picard of Star Trek: The Next Generation is a Democrat.

Cruz, a Princeton- and Harvard-educated lawyer who notes in the same interview that he spent “many years as a Supreme Court litigator”, says he likes Kirk because he’s working class, whereas Picard is an “aristocrat”.

Cruz argued that Kirk was a “complete captain” with both heart and mind, but in The Next Generation, “Picard was Kirk’s rational side, and William Riker was his passionate site”. He continues to contrast the two, adding, “Kirk is a passionate fighter for justice; Picard is a cerebral philosopher”.

“So @WilliamShatner doesn’t grasp that one of Star Trek’s most interesting elements was its philosophical side, which bleeds into politics”, Twitter user Bob Israel said. When asked “Do you have a suspicion about whether Kirk would be a Democrat or a Republican?“.

Well, there is at least one person out there who disagrees with Cruz’s assessment – and that’s Capt. Frickin’ Kirk himself. William Shatner has since weighed in and does not agree.

Frankly, I’m not going to get in the middle of this debate. I’m not political; I can’t even vote in the US.