Sen. Ted Cruz (R-TX) has quietly begun asking people whether they would join a 2028 presidential campaign, according to a report published Wednesday.
The Texas Republican has traveled to Iowa three times this year while working the podcast circuit and promoting a new book, the Wall Street Journal reported. Cruz’s spokeswoman declined to comment.
Asked on a podcast released Wednesday how much President Donald Trump’s endorsement would matter in 2028, Cruz declined to treat it as decisive.
“It carries weight, but I think the voters are going to make their own determination,” Cruz said.
The Independent characterized the answer as Cruz preparing the ground for not receiving the endorsement at all. Trump has not backed a successor. The president called Cruz “very talented” in late August when asked about a bid, stopping short of an endorsement.
Cruz has been less guarded about his ambitions.
“It’s no secret that I want to be president. I ran for president,” he said on a podcast hosted by Texas Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick last month. Asked whether he would run again, the senator answered, “Time will tell.”
He has also gone after Vice President JD Vance, who leads early polling of the Republican field.
“JD negotiated the MOU with Iran. That was a terrible deal,” Cruz said of the collapsed agreement.
Vance’s allies have privately dismissed the prospect of a Cruz candidacy, arguing he would not seriously threaten the vice president, according to the Journal. Steve Bannon, chief strategist on the 2016 Trump campaign, was blunter.
“He’s going to have plenty of money, but unfortunately he’s not a populist, he’s a throwback to the neocon and neoliberal policies of the old Republican party that’s essentially been destroyed,” Bannon said.
Trump told donors this summer that “at the end of the day, we need to elect JD.”
Iowa Republicans have not lined up behind him either. At the BBQ Bash hosted by GOP Senate nominee Ashley Hinson last Saturday, where Cruz appeared as the special guest, voters interviewed by the Journal named Vance and Secretary of State Marco Rubio before landing on Cruz.
The three-term Texan used his speech to claim ownership of policies Vance is expected to campaign on.
“No tax on tips, I wrote that,” Cruz told the crowd. He said he pushed to include the child investment accounts known as Trump Accounts in last year’s tax bill.
Rubio ruled himself out in May.
“I’ve said publicly, and I’ll say it again, I’ll be the first person to sign up and support him,”[Vance] the secretary of state said.
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