Former President Donald Trump has given Texas Senator Ted Cruz a lengthy endorsement as polls show the Republican lawmaker at risk of losing his seat in Congress this election.
The Republican presidential nominee fully backed the incumbent senator on his social media site Truth Social, where he called on Texans to re-elect Cruz for a third term in the Senate.
Despite being one of the most high-profile members of Congress, polling in Cruz’s home state has indicated that his opponent, Democrat Colin Allred, could be within distance of an upset victory. Internal Republican polling seen by Politico had Cruz just 1 point ahead of Allred, down from 3 points in September.
Trump wrote: “While I have endorsed Ted, on numerous occasions, verbally, because of the importance of the race, and Ted’s importance to the future of our Country, I thought the endorsement should be memorialized in writing.
“Senator Ted Cruz is doing a tremendous job representing the Great People of Texas, a State I love and WON BIG in 2016 and 2020, and, based on the Polls, will win even bigger in November. To the people of Texas, I greatly appreciate your support, and, as you know, I HAVE NEVER LET YOU DOWN!
File image of former President Donald Trump with Senator Ted Cruz in Houston, Texas, October 22, 2018. Trump has given Cruz a lengthy endorsement as polls show the Republican lawmaker at risk of losing his seat in Congress this election.
Getty Images
“Ted is one of the strongest Senators in the Country on Border Security, whereas his Opponent, Colin Allred, is a Radical Open Border Extremist, who will put our Country, and Safety, LAST. Ted, on the other hand, will ALWAYS put Texas, and America, FIRST.
“Ted Cruz has my Complete and Total Endorsement – HE WILL NOT LET YOU DOWN!”
Newsweek reached out to the Cruz and Allred campaigns for a response to the comments via email.
Trump and Cruz have had a complicated relationship. First clashing during the Republican primary for the 2016 presidential election, the pair were often at odds on both policy and rhetoric, culminating in Trump alleging that Cruz’s dad was involved in assassinating President John F. Kennedy. The original report, circulated by Trump that Rafael Cruz, Ted Cruz’s father, could be seen in a photograph with JFK assassin Lee Harvey Oswald, was widely debunked during the 2016 election.
However, since 2016, the pair have reconciled publicly, with Cruz being one of Trump’s top advocates in the Senate and leading the way in opposition to the certification of the Electoral College on January 6, 2021. Cruz endorsed Trump in both 2020 and 2024, and has frequently defended the former president’s record in government.
If re-elected, Cruz would serve in the Senate for another six years, meaning he would have served as senator for 18 years by the end of his third term.
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