Cruz meets with ‘master story-tellers’ Spielberg, Hanks at D-Day event

Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Texas) met with director Steven Spielberg and actor Tom Hanks at an event commemorating the 80th anniversary of the D-Day invasion Thursday.

“In Normandy for the 80th anniversary of D-Day. Ran into Steven Spielberg & ⁦@tomhanks, two master story-tellers who have done a beautiful job chronicling the incredible heroism of the Greatest Generation,” Cruz wrote on the social platform X alongside photos of himself with the two filmmakers.

Cruz is in Normandy, France, along with numerous other lawmakers and President Biden to mark the 80th anniversary of D-Day. Hanks and Spielberg were at one point “cornered” by Cruz for a chat, according to reporters traveling with the president.

Hanks has shown support for Biden in the past, narrating an ad in 2022 for Biden’s first inauguration anniversary. The actor also hosted the inaugural prime-time TV special in January 2021.

Hanks starred in and Spielberg directed the award-filming 1998 film “Saving Private Ryan,” which opens with U.S. soldiers storming Omaha Beach in Normandy on June 6, 1944, and follows a group of soldiers on their mission to locate the fictional Pvt. James Francis Ryan.

The movie is one of the most popular and acclaimed films related to D-Day. Hanks and Spielberg have also teamed up for other World War II-related projects, including the television series “Band of Brothers” and mini-series “The Pacific.”