--- description: Photoshopped posters showing the Texas Republican shirtless, with edgy tattoos, smoking a cigarette have been put up in several locations around the city. Likely a prank, the stunt prompted a tongue-in-cheek response from the senator title: Ted Cruz Struts His Tattoos In LA image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltde093bcdab65f2d0/6988d9b9bc6cfc69913e2a3c/time-logo.jpg?branch=production --- * [Politics](/section/politics/) ## Politics Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close * [ted cruz](/tag/ted-cruz/) ## ted cruz Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close # Ted Cruz Shows Off His Tattoos In L.A. by [Sam Frizell](/author/sam-frizell/) ## Sam Frizell Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close Mar 15, 2014 3:43 PM CUT by [Sam Frizell](/author/sam-frizell/) ## Sam Frizell Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close Mar 15, 2014 3:43 PM CUT Ted Cruz made an appearance in Los Angeles looking rougher around the edges than you’d expect of a U.S. senator. Inked up and dangling a cigarette from his lips, the Texas senator could be seen in several locations around the city, shirtless and revealing a magnificent tattoo of an eagle stretched across his sculpted pectoral muscles. Of course, Cruz is tattooed in poster form only. Some mischief-maker posted his photoshopped (we think!) image around town ahead of a speaking engagement for the senator at Beverly Hills’ Claremont Institute. The event was scheduled for Saturday night. The senator caught wind of the prank and countered with a tongue-in-cheek tweet. > [](https://twitter.com/tedcruz/status/444834924609019904) ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/26113/ted-cruz-la-tattoo-cigarette-tweet/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/26113/ted-cruz-la-tattoo-cigarette-tweet/"},"headline":"Ted Cruz Shows Off His Tattoos In L.A.","datePublished":"2014-03-15T15:43:45.000Z","dateModified":"2026-04-13T07:07:50.255Z","description":"Photoshopped posters showing the Texas Republican shirtless, with edgy tattoos, smoking a cigarette have been put up in several locations around the city. Likely a prank, the stunt prompted a tongue-in-cheek response from the senator","url":"https://time.com/26113/ted-cruz-la-tattoo-cigarette-tweet/","keywords":["ted cruz","Newsfeed","los angeles","Senator"],"thumbnailUrl":"","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Sam Frizell","jobTitle":null,"url":"https://time.com/author/sam-frizell/"}],"articleSection":"Politics","image":[],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/section/politics/","name":"Politics"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"/tag/ted-cruz/","name":"ted cruz"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/26113/ted-cruz-la-tattoo-cigarette-tweet/","name":"Ted Cruz Shows Off His Tattoos In L.A."}}]}] ```