Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Texas) criticized a “Humans of the CIA” video recently released by the agency, writing late Monday: “We’ve come a long way from Jason Bourne.”
In the video, a first-generation Latina American CIA agent discusses her “intersectional” identity.
“I am a woman of color. I am a mom. I am a cisgender millennial who’s been diagnosed with generalized anxiety disorder. I am intersectional, but my existence is not a box-checking exercise,” the CIA agent says.
“If you’re a Chinese communist, or an Iranian Mullah, or Kim Jong Un…would this scare you?” Cruz asked in response.
“We’ve come a long way from Jason Bourne,” he added referring to the fictional, amnesiac CIA operative created by writer Robert Ludlum for a series of novels that were later adapted into popular movies starring Matt Damon.
In response to Cruz’s tweet, many online commenters pointed out that Bourne is a fictional character.
Sports journalist and political commentator Keith Olbermann, for example, tweeted: “Hey, moron: ‘Jason Bourne’ is imaginary — like your conscience.”