Reprinted with permission from Alternet

With Afghanistan having fallen to the Taliban following the withdrawal of U.S. troops, CNN's Clarissa Ward has been on the ground in Kabul fearlessly covering that tense and dangerous situation. Sen. Ted Cruz of Texas, on Monday, used the tragedy to take a cheap, baseless shot at Ward, and he is being slammed for it on Twitter.

Ward, reporting on Afghanistan's transition from a fragile democracy to a far-right Islamist dictatorship under the Taliban, was wearing a head covering and concealing her hair:

Cruz took Ward's attire out of context, implying that it was an endorsement of the Taliban. The far-right Texas senator posted:

It didn't take long for Cruz to be inundated with negative reactions on Twitter. CNN's corporate communications tweeted: