On Thursday, Sen. Ted Cruz (R-TX) implied that if former Florida Governor Jeb Bush wins the GOP nomination, Hillary Clinton will be the next president.

“[I]f we run another candidate in the mold of a Bob Dole [in 1996] or a John McCain or Mitt Romney, we will end up with the same result, which is millions of people will stay home on Election Day, which is what happened for all three of them,” Cruz, a potential 2016 contender, reportedly said during a CNBC interview. “And if we run another candidate like that, Hillary Clinton will be the next president.” 

According to Politico, Cruz was “initially asked what he thought of a potential Jeb Bush candidacy,” and he replied that, “Jeb has not declared his candidacy. I like Jeb. I’m a fan of Jeb Bush’s. I’m going to let him decide if he’s running first and let the primary voters make a decision.”

“But I will say this: We need to learn from history, we need to look to history and what works and what doesn’t,” he added. Cruz said the moderate GOP presidential losers were “good, honorable men” and “patriots.”

Bush, the “pale pastel” candidate who has expressed his support for comprehensive amnesty legislation and Common Core, fits the mold of moderate Republican candidates that do not excite the conservative base. 

Conservative scholar and talk radio host Mark Levin said earlier this year that Republicans must nominate a conservative who excites the grassroots in 2016.

“It’s very, very, important that we nominate a conservative for the first time since Ronald Reagan,” Levin said at this year’s Values Voter Summit. “There are people under 50-years-old who have never had an opportunity to vote for a conservative president. We want to show them what it’s like. It’s our generation’s responsibility.”

As Breitbart News reported, Levin said that “it’s invigorating, energizing” and “almost spiritual to get behind somebody with enthusiasm and excitement. To go door-to-door. That’s how you win elections.”

Bush has said he would make a decision about a presidential run at the end of the year, and his two sons hyped his father’s potential candidacy this weekend in the mainstream press.