Sen. Ted Cruz is pushing back against the notion that Vice President JD Vance is already the Republican Party’s presumptive presidential nominee for 2028, arguing that the GOP will face a major internal debate over its identity and direction once President Donald Trump leaves office.
Asked by MS NOW’s Ali Vitali whether Republicans had effectively settled on Vance as the party’s next presidential standard-bearer, the Texas Republican immediately rejected the premise.
“Oh, no,” Cruz said. “There’s going to be a full discussion about who we are and what we believe.”
Cruz has firsthand experience competing for the Republican presidential nomination, having emerged as Trump’s principal challenger during the 2016 primary campaign. He pointed out that he was Trump’s strongest opponent that year and defeated him in nominating contests across 12 states.
Despite their fierce rivalry during that campaign, Cruz offered strong praise for Trump, calling him an “extraordinary president” and arguing that his leadership has transformed the Republican Party in fundamental ways.
According to Cruz, there “is no Never Trump lane” remaining within today’s GOP. He attributed much of Trump’s enduring popularity among Republican voters to the president’s willingness to confront opponents and engage aggressively in political battles.
“Love him or hate him, you’ve got to acknowledge this guy has a backbone — he is fearless,” Cruz said. “And there are a lot of Republicans that were so tired of lily-livered Republicans who were afraid of their own shadow.”
“Trump doesn’t hide in the corner,” Cruz added, saying the president “is ferocious.”
At the same time, Cruz said he would prefer to see Trump demonstrate greater “message discipline and focus.” Cruz said the two are in frequent contact, speaking at least weekly and sometimes every day, and that he routinely gives the president his thoughts and recommendations.
“He doesn’t always listen to me, but he frequently listens to me, and I’m grateful because he’s got courage,” Cruz said.
Looking beyond Trump’s presidency, however, Cruz said Republicans will confront a much broader question: whether the movement Trump created can survive his departure from the White House and, if so, what that movement will look like under a new generation of leadership.
“Going forward, we’re in the midst of a debate about who our party is and what we believe, and I think economically we’ve got to debate, ‘Are we a small-government, free-market conservative party, or are we a big-government, nanny-state party?'” Cruz said.
Cruz, who has long identified himself with free-market economics and smaller government, said the coming Republican debate will extend beyond domestic policy to fundamental questions about America’s place in the world.
“I’ll certainly be part of the discussion because I care deeply about — economically, I think we should be a conservative party,” he said. “And on foreign policy, we’ve got to debate, ‘Are we an isolationist party that withdraws from the world or do we believe in American leadership?'”
Cruz characterized Trump’s rise and his transformation of the Republican Party around the “America First” and MAGA movements as a “Black Swan event,” saying Trump’s political phenomenon is not something another Republican candidate can simply reproduce.
“He is a unique historical figure,” Cruz said. “There’s never been anyone like him. I don’t think there will be anyone like him going forward.”
{Matzav.com}
