Trump hammers Cruz as senator holds back endorsement: ‘He shouldn’t even exist’
January 04, 2024 02:27 PM
Former President Donald Trump is reportedly upset at Republican politicians who have held out their endorsement in the 2024 presidential race, including former 2016 primary rival Sen. Ted Cruz (R-TX).
Trump has ranted privately about Cruz withholding his endorsement for the GOP nomination and said that Cruz “shouldn’t even exist,” according to a report from the New York Times.
“Ted — he shouldn’t even exist,” Trump said, according to the outlet, citing a person who heard the comments. “I could’ve destroyed him. I kind of did destroy him in 2016, if you think about it. But then I let him live.”
Cruz ran against Trump in the 2016 GOP presidential primary, beating him in Iowa and some other states but losing the Republican nomination to him. In 2016, Cruz did not endorse Trump until September — two months after the Republican National Convention and less than two months before the election.
The former president believes it is not sufficient when politicians say they “support” him, and he is more focused on scoring formal endorsements.
He also reportedly bragged about receiving the endorsement of House Majority Whip Tom Emmer (R-MN) by saying that “they always bend the knee.” Trump sank Emmer’s chances of becoming House speaker in October when he said the House GOP electing him speaker would be a “tragic mistake.”
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The former president is the favorite to win the GOP presidential nomination, far ahead of the other candidates in most polls, and has raked up more endorsements than any other Republican candidates.
The Washington Examiner reached out to Cruz’s office for comment.