Sen. Ted Cruz (R-TX) said he expected to support President Donald Trump’s reelection campaign in 2020 during a Tuesday interview with SiriusXM hosts Rebecca Mansour and Joel Pollak on Breitbart News Tonight.
Mansour asked Cruz, “Would you be supportive of President Trump if he ran for reelection in 2020?”
Cruz replied, “I certainly assume so. I was supportive of and campaigned for President Trump in 2016, and I am very encouraged with the substantive policy victories we are getting, whether it is an historic tax cut bill, whether it is regulatory reform that’s unleashing jobs, whether it is repealing the Obamacare individual mandate — which I led the fight to do in the United States Senate — whether it is nominating and confirming strong constitutionalists to the courts. On all of those fights I’ve been working to lead the battle. I’m content to continue working to lead that battle and defend our freedoms and defend the Constitution.”
LISTEN:
Cruz invited American support for his Senatorial election campaign. He said, “Let me encourage everyone again, the hard left is raising tons of money. They’re coming after us, and if you want to defend our freedom, if you want to defend the Constitution, if you want to build a wall, then we need your help. Come to our website, tedcruz.org. Support us, contribute, because the other side is coming hard and they’re pushing impeachment and open borders and taking away our rights, and so we need to stand together and defend those rights.”
A Quinnipiac poll published on April 18 had Cruz leading his Democrat opponent — Rep. Beto O’Rourke (D-TX) — by three points.
During the 2016 election, Cruz initially opted against endorsing Trump after Trump secured the Republican Party’s nomination following a heated primary race that pitted the Texas senator against the New York real estate mogul. Republican convention goers booed Cruz during his speech at the Republican National Convention in Cleveland, Ohio, when he advised them to “vote your conscience.” Two months later, he endorsed Trump and assisted his presidential campaign.
Never Trump media figures lamented Cruz’s support for Trump’s campaign. Glenn Beck, a fervent Cruz supporter during the 2016 primary, described himself as “profoundly sad” following Cruz’s endorsement of Trump, whom Beck strongly opposed. Beck later described America as a “petulant child” worthy of divine punishment for making “the wrong choice” in nominating Trump.
Since the election, Cruz has largely supported Trump’s policies and agenda, including the construction of a wall along the southern border, the nomination of Neil Gorsuch to the Supreme Court, and the tax and regulatory reforms.
Breitbart News Tonight broadcasts live Monday through Friday on SiriusXM’s Patriot channel 125 from 9:00 p.m. to midnight Eastern (6:00 p.m. to 9:00 p.m. Pacific).
Follow Robert Kraychik on Twitter @rkraychik.