Trump tells it like it is once again.
President Trump is probably the best person to explain the nature of his relationship with Senator Ted Cruz, as seen in this matter-of-fact clip from a recent speech Trump gave to the National Rifle Association.
As viewers may recall, Cruz was Trump’s most dogged competitor in the Republican primaries of the 2016 election season, remaining distantly competitive with Trump up until May of last year.
Cruz had acquired the nickname “Lyin’ Ted” from Trump after Cruz’s campaign spread an erroneous CNN report about Republican candidate Ben Carson. But Cruz — despite winning the first primary caucuses in Iowa — was never really a major force to contend with, compared to the populist phenomenon that is Trump.
At the same time, both men belong to the same party and have similar positions on many party platform planks. Recently, Cruz has spoken up and supported the president’s nomination of Supreme Court Justice Neil Gorsuch and gave praise for Trump’s outstanding State of the Union address, which goes to show that ultimately, party loyalty can outweigh differences of opinion on particular issues.
With Cruz knowing its likely Trump will run again in 2020, he probably realizes it’s much wiser to be allied with an incumbent president than facing a popular competitor if Cruz were to go for another run in the next election.
And Trump is a good sportsmanlike winner; now that he realizes Cruz isn’t a threat but an ally to his administration, he can relax and credit his one-time fervent opponent. Watch as Trump shows us how to nonchalantly patch up an old rivalry.
