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Ted Cruz pays off World Series bet with Texas barbecue and beer

Senator wore a Washington Nationals jersey for the occasion

Sens. Ted Cruz, left, and Tim Kaine take a photo together Thursday at the Dirksen Senate Office Building, where Cruz provided a Texas-themed buffet for his and Kaine’s staffers after losing a World Series bet with Kaine. (Caroline Brehman/CQ Roll Call)
Sens. Ted Cruz, left, and Tim Kaine take a photo together Thursday at the Dirksen Senate Office Building, where Cruz provided a Texas-themed buffet for his and Kaine’s staffers after losing a World Series bet with Kaine. (Caroline Brehman/CQ Roll Call)

Sen. Ted Cruz repaid his World Series bet in style Thursday with a feast of Texas barbecue and Shiner beer.

“I agreed to go full bore, so I am painfully going to deliver, although I continue to wave my 2017 rally flag,” the Texas Republican said at a luncheon with Virginia Democratic Sen. Tim Kaine and New York Democratic Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand, their staffs and other invited guests.

“I’ve consumed far more of this than I will admit on camera,” Cruz said of the Shiner beer that accompanied the meal.

Cruz, of Houston, made a World Series bet with Kaine in which he would provide barbecue if the Washington Nationals prevailed over his hometown Astros. Had the Astros prevailed, Kaine was promising crabcakes.

The Texas Republican, who wore a Nationals World Series cap and an Anthony Rendon jersey, had meat flown in from Kreuz Market BBQ to the event in the Dirsken Senate Office Building.

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The brisket proved a particular favorite, and Cruz may have inadvertently been making the case to be the new host of the annual bipartisan Senate barbecue, with the pending retirement of Sen. Johnny Isakson, R-Ga.

Gillibrand, who had to depart before Cruz arrived for the main presentation, contributed wings and whiskey from New York ⁠— some of which she sampled alongside Kaine.

UNITED STATES - DECEMBER 5: Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand, D-N.Y., left, shares a drink of New York whiskey with Sen. Tim Kaine, D-Va., at the Capitol on Thursday Dec. 5, 2019. Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand, D-N.Y., placed a ALCS bet with Sen. Ted Cruz, R-Texas. As the loser, Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand, D-N.Y., provided New York themed desserts for her and Cruz’s staffers. (Photo by Caroline Brehman/CQ Roll Call)
Sens. Kirsten Gillibrand and Tim Kaine share a drink during Thursday’s post-World Series event. Gillibrand, who lost an American League Championship Series bet with Sen. Ted Cruz, contributed New York-themed desserts to the Texas-themed buffet. (Caroline Brehman/CQ Roll Call)

“We’ve had a really good relationship working together on the Armed Services Committee and now on the Foreign Relations Committee. I definitely consider him a friend. This was a fun bet,” Kaine said of Cruz. “He came up to me on the floor after he had beaten Kirsten in their bet [for the American League Championship Series].”

[10 photos from the Nationals Championship Parade in D.C.]

“Obviously, the Nats win was a big unifer for the D.C. area, and we graciously accept the food that a gracious loser has offered for everybody today,” Kaine said.

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