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But the president's son was there for Ted Cruz, a senator from Texas and a tea party advocate who has not always maintained the friendliest relations with the Trump family and now faces a more difficult reelection struggle than planned. And at the beginning of his remarks, Trump Jr. said that he should address this "elephant in the room", the coolness between Cruz and his father after the 2016 Republican presidential primary that was fiercely contested.
The young Trump does not need to go into details. In Texas, few have forgotten Donald Trump's invective and the man he called "Lyin 'Ted Cruz" during the 2016 campaign. Trump circulated supposed tweets insult the appearance of Cruz's wife and infamously imply that the senator's father had been involved in the assassination of JFK. The President has never apologized or retracted publicly. And Cruz, who called Trump "totally amoral" and "narcissistic at a level I do not think this country has ever seen," has repeatedly denied the opportunity to take back his own words, though 39, he wrote an emotional tribute to Trump. political skills in Time magazine.
Ted Cruz's rally with Donald Trump Jr. in Wichita Falls, Texas, resembled a rally for the president. (Photo: Holly Bailey / Yahoo News)
When Cruz – angered by insults to his wife and father – refused to support Trump at the Republican National Convention, even his own supporters booed him. The next morning, at a breakfast for the Texas delegation, people stood up and angrily denounced Cruz as being small and ruthless. "Ted! Ted!" Shouted a man in the giant cowboy hat to the senator, who looked pained and embarrassed.
Obviously, Cruz is handed over. And that's what Trump Jr. wanted to talk about. A few months after this bitter primary, recalls Trump's son, he met Cruz at a political dinner in Washington, where they were sitting at the same table. "It was a little embarrassing, but we both had a good conversation, as it should," he told the crowd.
Subsequently, he had invited Cruz to join him and the others for a drink after dinner at the Trump Hotel, Mexico, and the senator had come hanging with the group for three hours. "We had a lot of fun, we had good relationships and let me tell you this: it was not easy," said Trump Jr. "I mean, this is the biggest compliment. I do not know that if the shoes were reversed, I could have done it. I would like to believe that I could. But it is a testimony of the character of this man. "
"From that moment," said Trump's son, Cruz is an ally of his father. "From that moment, this man fought for you. He fought for Texas and for his constituents. "
A few meters away, on the side of the stage where he was listening, Cruz nodded, thanking the president's son. Trump Jr.'s visit here marked the beginning of what some have recently described as a "Republican" rescue operation for Cruz, who faces a surprisingly difficult challenge from Representative Beto O'Rourke. According to a recent Quinnipiac poll, Cruz would have won 9 points among likely Texas voters – a margin too narrow for comfort in a conservative state of a ruby red where no Democrats won a warrant at the 39, statewide since 1994.
Donald Trump Jr. speaks at a rally of Senator Ted Cruz in Conroe, Texas on Wednesday. (Photo: Larry W. Smith / EPA-EFE / REX / Shutterstock)
The race remains to lose for Cruz. There are more Republicans than Democrats in Texas. But Cruz has been candid in his future prospects for months – warning his supporters that he could really lose in what some have predicted as a blue wave year. Others have been franker in their assessment. Last month, Mick Mulvaney, Trump's budget director, told a private meeting of leading Republican National Committee donors that Cruz may lose because he is not "kind enough," according to the New York Times. .
Now Cruz is in a position he probably never imagined two years ago – clinging to Trump in hopes of winning a second term in the Senate. According to Republicans aware of the campaign, there will be more implicit messages – arguing that as long as Cruz is on the ballot, the race is really a referendum on Trump. This is an argument that Cruz has pointed out in passing, but that Republicans want to emphasize in the hope of strengthening the participation of GOP voters, who, according to polls, suggest that Democrats are enthusiastic.
Trump Jr. was the first of many Republicans to campaign in the state for Cruz over the next few weeks. Vice President Mike Pence is expected to campaign for Cruz in Dallas on Monday. And Cruz will appear soon with President Trump himself, who pledged in late August to rally for his former political rival "in the largest stadium in Texas we can find."
Speaking Wednesday in Wichita Falls, a town just south of the Oklahoma border in northeastern Texas, Cruz has portrayed himself as a powerful Trump ally. He talked about their close working relationships when adopting tax cuts and other laws. He boasted about spending 45 minutes with the president on Air Force One, asking him to withdraw from the Paris climate agreement, which he said could have hurt jobs. of the oil industry in Texas. "We are winning incredible victories for the American people," said Cruz.
Senator Ted Cruz will speak Wednesday in Conroe, Texas. (Photo: Larry W. Smith / EPA-EFE / REX / Shutterstock)
And he congratulated Trump Jr. and his father for their "steadfastness" over the "hatred" of the Democrats. "You endure a lot of grief, you suffer a lot of attacks, you endure a lot of nastiness, and your father endures even more grief and attacks and malice, and let me thank you for your determination and his determination to defend the country and ignore hatred on the other side, "Cruz said.
The choice of Wichita Falls (there was also a second gathering near Houston) was a sign of concern that Republicans have about Cruz's fate a month before polling day. Wichita Falls is a solidly Republican city that Trump has collected with over 70% of the votes.
But O'Rourke played a big role for rural Texas. He boasts of having stopped over all 254 counties in the state and, in some places, he has redone his loop. This includes Wichita Falls, where, at a rally in August, it drew several hundred spectators. Among those who endorsed it, Republican Stephen Santellana, Mayor of Wichita Falls, said he had decided to support O'Rourke because he truly cared about the people and destiny of rural Texas.
This charm offensive forced Cruz to work harder than during his previous campaign in the Senate in 2012. Over the past three months, he has visited dozens of towns in rural Texas. But some supporters fear that O'Rourke's efforts to attract enough voters will make a difference in November.
A scene from Ted Cruz's rally with Donald Trump Jr. in Wichita Falls, Texas. (Photo: Holly Bailey / Yahoo News)
On Wednesday, the state representative, Pat Fallon, Senate candidate, addressed the crowd while waiting for the arrival of Cruz and Trump Jr. He reminded them several times what that Cruz had done for them. "Do not forget every time he's presented for you," he says.
In a race where there are big differences between the two candidates and almost no ground, Cruz said Republican complacency would be his biggest challenge in November. "If we move forward, we win," he said.
But the participation rate continues to be a concern. Some blamed lukewarm feelings about Cruz, partly reflecting the resentment he had provoked during his first presidential race a year after his first term in the Senate. But some also believe that Republican voters are complacent in the mid-term because, repeatedly repeated by Trump not to trust the media, they think the alarms about a "blue wave" election are false.
This is a message Trump Jr. alluded to Wednesday. "There are a lot of people out there, I've seen the numbers, they say," Ah, you know what, the same fake media that said Trump could never win, that's telling me that he will lose half. I am not worried, "said Trump Jr. on Wednesday. "Guess what?" Hate is a powerful motivator, that's all they have because the rest of politics is as silly as possible, but they have a lot of hate. you come en masse.I need you to call your friends.I need you as a volunteer.I need you to motivate.
While he was talking, a woman waved a giant Trump flag and others pushed their Ted Cruz placards up in the air. Nearby, a woman and her daughter wore custom Cruz-Trump shirts, designed by them. "Trump is not on the ballot [by name]but he is, she says. "He and Ted are together in this."
A scene from Ted Cruz's rally with Donald Trump Jr. in Wichita Falls, Texas. (Photo: Holly Bailey / Yahoo News)
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