TAMPA — Republican candidate Maura Cruz last week retweeted on her personal Twitter account a meme callingPresident Joe Biden a “pedophile.” She also posted a photo of him saying that “records had revealed that Biden had $5.2 million in unexplained income.”
While both accusations are baseless, they have spread on social media platforms, potentially influencing political views ahead of the upcoming November election.
A lifelong Tampa resident, Cruz, 67, is challenging Democratic incumbent Rep. Susan Valdes to represent Florida’s 64th House District. The newly drawn district includes large Hispanic communities around West Tampa, Town ‘N Country and Egypt Lake.
Cruz, a retired business owner, said she cannot be questioned about messages or posts on her personal Twitter account,which features several campaign videos and a prominent banner encouraging voters to pick her.
“My campaign Twitter account was permanently suspended in 2020 after the election along with thousands of other conservatives,” Cruz wrote in an email to the Tampa Bay Times. “This is my personal Twitter account, that’s why it has a cartoon of me. I have fun calling out the Biden administration for their failing, far-left lawless policies.”
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