Ted Cruz's campaign used a picture of two cisgendered high school girls in an anti-trans attack ad aimed at his Democrat challenger, despite neither asking for permission nor confirming whether the girls were transgender, according to a report.
The ad featured prominent transgender athletes, including former University of Pennsylvania swimmer Lia Thomas, and bashed Cruz's Democratic opponent, Colin Allred, for voting to allow transgender athletes to share locker rooms and compete in sports, claiming "our girls are being left in the dust and robbed of their right to compete fairly," according to the ad.
The attack ad also includes a photo of two teenage girls who run track and field in the Beaverton School District in Oregon, alluding to both of them identifying as transgender. The photo was used in a Central Oregon Daily News article about transgender high school athletes, according to reporting by The Hill.
When The Hill reached out to the girls' families for comment, one of them said they were unaware the picture was used because they did not give their permission and confirmed they are not transgender. The other could not be reached.
A spokesperson for the school district emailed the Cruz campaign and asked them directly to pull the ads.
"The family nor the school or school district ever gave permission for this photo to be used," the spokesperson said in an email obtained by The Hill. "It is alarming that your campaign would have produced/distributed/promoted this ad with false information, especially with minor children involved."
A representative from Cruz's campaign did not tell The Hill how they responded to the district's request or whether they believed the ad was misleading, but said the photo "features a female athlete who spoke out against boys playing in girls' sports after participating in a track meet where a biological male beat female athletes and impacted individual and team medal results."
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