Ted Cruz Calls Neighbors Who Leaked Wife's Texts 'A-Holes' in Podcast

Ted Cruz thinks those who leaked his wife's texts about their Cancun plans are a bunch of "assholes," but we wonder ... did he stop and look in the mirror before saying this?

The Senator from Texas aired his grievances during an appearance on a political podcast called 'Ruthless.'

Anyway, he was asked right out the gate about the fallout after being caught fleeing his freezing home state to vacay south of the border. Instead of apologizing and copping to the bad decision ... TC was back to playing the blame game -- this time going after the neighbors who were part of the OG group chat.

He says his wife, Heidi, is "pretty pissed" about those text messages she sent to friends and neighbors that leaked to the media. Ted even describes her confronting some of them upon her return ... a little witch-hunting after some fun in the sun.

Then comes his analysis of the whole thing ... in which he describes them as politicized meanies who lack tact -- only his language is much more blunt, of course.

Cruz made a crack about the Zodiac killer -- a running gag he leaned into and which was pretty funny ... or would be, anyway, under different circumstances. He also touched on their dog, Snowflake, whom they abandoned ... even though he insists it was fine, saying it had heat/care at the ready. Interesting, since Heidi had complained the house was an icebox.

There's also an interesting anecdote about Heidi's beach photos.