Will’s Word: US senator’s loud mouth antics, fake news about NZ is dangerous

Ted Cruz has once again proven that being a US senator doesn’t require much more than a loud mouth and a complete disregard for the truth.

Cruz decided to share a completely false story about New Zealand, claiming that the country requires every Israeli to disclose their military service in order to receive a visitor’s visa.

This was based on a faulty news report, which has since been corrected. But instead of verifying the information, Cruz jumped on the bandwagon, criticising New Zealand as an “unreliable ally”.

Cruz has all the damn resources available to him to fact-check and verify any claim he’s about to make, yet he chose not to.

We’re talking about a US senator who could have easily reached out to New Zealand’s embassy, done a quick search, or asked his staff to verify the information before throwing out such a baseless accusation.

New Zealand’s Government had to step in and set the record straight, clarifying that Israelis do not need to disclose their military service to enter the country. In fact, they don’t even need a visitor visa at all, thanks to a visa waiver agreement.

Winston Peters also called it fake news.

This type of behaviour is downright dangerous. We live in an age where misinformation can spread like wildfire.

That’s Will’s Word.