'NY Daily News' Strikes Back at Cruz's Comments on "New York Values" With Scathing Cover

After Texas Sen. Ted Cruz wagged a finger at New York's values at the sixth Republican debate Thursday night, New Yorkers are pointing the finger back at him. You can probably guess which one.

Friday's New York Daily News cover jumps an image of the Statue of Liberty flipping the bird with the words "Drop Dead, Ted" in bold. Below they add, "Hey, Cruz: You don't like N.Y. values? Go back to Canada!" heaping onto the growing backlash Cruz has received for not being a "natural-born" citizen.

Twitter users responded to the comments by Cruz with the hashtag #NewYorkValues, tweeting out photos of bagels and lox, corner stores and $1 pizza and sharing why they think New York is great. But none strikes back harder than the Daily News.

The Daily News is known for its controversial covers, like the one in December following the San Bernardino, California, shootings. The cover called out politicians who offered their "thoughts and prayers" in lieu of any promises to take action on gun control. The cover read "God Isn't Fixing This" and included tweets from GOP presidential candidates — Cruz among them — and House Speaker Paul Ryan.

New Yorkers might find the comments by Cruz to be not only offensive, but also hypocritical. In April, Cruz held a fundraiser at the apartment of a gay businessman in New York, where Cruz took a reportedly moderate stance on LGBTQ issues while accepting their money.

During Thursday's debate, it was clear Cruz thought knocking New York would succeed foremost in tearing down Trump, with whom he also participated in a verbal sparring match over who would be whose vice president. "Everybody understands that the values in New York City are socially liberal and pro-abortion and pro-gay marriage and focus on money and the media," Cruz said.

In the Daily News cover story, columnist Mike Lupica wrote, "Ted Cruz, who only comes here with his hand out, has decided that the most diverse city the world has ever known is filled with people who all think alike. He sounds in these moments like as slow a thinker as we have ever had run for president."

Lupica went on to discuss the spirit of New York City, like Trump, honing in on the spirit and strength of the city after Sept. 11. Lupica finished with this assessment of Cruz: "It is the other party that has a donkey as its mascot. But Cruz is the one who's a career jackass," Lupica wrote. "City to him: Get lost."