claim: Sen. Ted Cruz said Southern states should build a nuclear arsenal to "protect their beliefs."
origin: In early June 2017, social media users shared an article reporting that Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Texas) saidÂ Southern states should build their own nuclear weapons in order to â€œprotect their beliefsâ€: < Ted Cruz: â€œSouthern States Should Build Their Own Nuclear Weapon To Protect Their Beliefsâ€https://t.co/dul6fjlHGL â€” InxsySparxs (@InxsyS) June 6, 2017 > The claimÂ came from a 6 June 2017 USPOLN item, which read: < â€œThey are out to exterminate us,â€ Cruz raged on. â€œThey are out and they are on the hunt for God-fearing conservative Christians whose only idea of a family entails a man and a woman and nothing else. They are like a beast whoâ€™s had a taste of blood, Christian blood, and is now out for the kill. You are all and danger, I am in danger, Christians throughout America are in danger. It started with the Supreme Court ruling, and the way things are going, Iâ€™m afraid to think how itâ€™ll end.â€ â€œBut, there is a solution. Or rather, there could be. I believe the southern states of America should come together in a joint effort to protect their religious freedom, what little of it they, we, have left. We are running out of time. We should build a nuclear bomb and use it to defend our right to believe in God as our one true Father â€¦ [Americans in other states] will come back to us some day, once they realize the error of their ways. Until then, the atomic bomb should remain a guarantee of Christiansâ€™ right to believe in straight marriage and traditional values.â€ > There was no truth to the claim, or any other published by USPOLN. The siteâ€™s disclaimer explained: < DISCLAIMER: USPOLN may include information from sources that may or may not be reliable and facts that donâ€™t necessarily exist. These Articles should be considered satirical and any and all quotes attributed to actual people complete and total baloney. >