[ad_1]
HOUSTON – While competing for the Republican presidential nomination in 2016, Donald J. Trump posed a biting question to voters: "Why would the people of Texas support Ted Cruz when he did absolutely nothing for them?"
More than two years later, President Trump visited Texas to answer his own question: Mr. Cruz now supports Mr. Trump.
"It got nasty," Mr. Trump said about their contest on the day of the day. "And then it ended. And I'll tell you what – it's all about you, with your regulation, with all the things we're doing, including the military and the vets, than Senator Ted Cruz. "
If ever there was a time during this midterm election race that reinforced just how much Mr. Trump has claimed control of the Republican Party, it came during the rally at Houston's Toyota Center. While many elected Republicans remain privately dismayed by the president for various reasons, they have been able to embrace their lives during this campaign, as demonstrated by Mr. Cruz, one of Mr. Trump's last and most virulent opponents during their journey to the White House.
Appearing with Mr. Trump in the jampacked 18,000-seat arena on the first day of early voting in Texas, Mr. Cruz said he was "honored" to have the president's help and presented himself as an ally in advancing his policies on taxes, regulation and immigration. "I'm proud to have worked with this president," he said.
Whereas, Mr. Cruz committed to supporting Mr. Trump for a second term. "In 2020, Donald Trump will be overwhelmingly re-elected as President of the United States," he said, adding, "I look forward to campaigning alongside him in 2020."
Politics is a business of situational ethics and alliances of convenience, but even in the no-permanent-enemies world of campaigning, rarely have two politicians been so vitriolic towards each other all along.
Even after losing the nomination, Mr. Cruz refused to openly endorse Mr. Trump at the Republican National Convention, only coming around later in the fall. But after finally embracing him, Mr. Cruz "Access Hollywood" has been reported, which helps aids a long way to healing their rift.
Speaking with reporters before leaving Washington for Houston, Mr. Trump said the two had buried the hatchet. "He's not Lyin 'Ted anymore," the president said. "He's Beautiful Ted." Mr. Trump said the two had waged a "very, very nasty and tough campaign," but he had come to appreciate Mr. Cruz. "I actually like him a lot. And he's a very smart guy. "
Still, Mr. Trump has never apologized for attacking Mr. Cruz's family and refused to do so again on Monday. "I do not regret anything, honestly," he said. "It all worked out very nicely."
Mr. Cruz was hardly effusive heading towards the rally, saying he made a calculated decision to be politically effective. "Texas, that would be abdicating my responsibility," he said on "This Week" on ABC News over the weekend.
Asked if he considered Mr. Trump a friend, Mr. Cruz would not go that far. "He's the president," he said instead. "And he's the president. I work with the president in delivering on our promises. "
Andy Surabian, a Republican Strategist Who Ran the Trump in 2016, said the relationship between the president and the senator has evolved into an authentic partnership. "I would call it genuine rapprochement," he said.
Mr. Trump after "Access Hollywood," he said, Mr. Cruz sealed that bond. "When he did not do that, the way was viewed in Trump's orbit," said Mr. Surabian. "Since then, Cruz has been one of Trump's most reliable supporters in the Senate."
Mike Huckabee, Sarah Huckabee Sanders, The White House Press Secretary, President of the United States.
"Is @realDonaldTrump being disingenuous about 'Lyin' Ted? '" he wrote on Twitter on Monday. "Not at all. He was actually saying LION Ted – 'King of the Washington Jungle.' The press just misunderstood. "
Mr. Cruz faces a vigorous challenge from Representative Beto O'Rourke from El Paso, who has become a national star among Democrats and brought in $ 38 million in the past quarter, a new Senate fund-raising record, but still trails in his underdog bid to turn conservative Texas blue.
In a debate last week, Mr. O'Rourke adopted the president's sobriquet about Mr. Cruz. "He's dishonest, and it's why the president called him Lyin 'Ted, and it's why the nickname stuck – because it's true," Mr. O'Rourke said. He later expressed regret, saying, "I took a step too far." He spent Tuesday campaigning around Houston.
Matt Angle, a longtime Democratic strategist from Texas and the founder of the Lone Star Project, a political action committee that seeks to counter Texas Republicans, said Mr. Trump's decision to campaign for Mr. Cruz said that .
"Trump coming to Texas reminds everyone that Ted allowed him to join him, insult his wife and disrespect his father and not be forced to apologize," Mr. Angle said. "There are few people Texans respect less than those who roll over for a blowhard bully. Essentially, by bringing Trump to Texas to stump for him, Cruz is surrendering his dignity to Trump in exchange for a public belly rub.
Rick Tyler, a strategist for Mr. Cruz and one of the most visible Republican critics of Mr. Trump, said it would not be possible . "Theirs is a transitional relationship," Mr. Tyler said, "Trump purpose is principally in Texas to claim that it was the reason Cruz won."
In their speeches on Monday night, Mr. Trump and Mr. Cruz rallied the crowd in favor of their shared priorities of cutting taxes, closing the border, curbing regulations and protecting gun rights. Mr. O'Rourke, whom Mr. Trump called "a stone-cold phony," and Democrats, who they said would replace freedom with socialism and cater to foreigners.
Mr. Trump has been made to work in other countries, saying that he is doing a good job. "A globalist is a person who wants the globe to do well, frankly, not caring about our country so much," he said. "You know what I am? I'm a nationalist, O.K. Nationalist. Use that word, use that word. "
[ad_2]Source link
