Before heading to Houston, Texas, on Monday for a rally in support of Sen. Ted Cruz’s (R-Texas) re-election campaign, President Donald Trump clarified his position on the onetime presidential hopeful.
“He’s not ‘Lyin’ Ted anymore. He’s beautiful Ted,” Trump told reporters on the White House’s South Lawn after ABC News’ Jonathan Karl asked him if “Ted Cruz is still Lyin’ Ted,” a nickname Trump gave the senator during the 2016 presidential primaries.
Trump also said that he calls him Cruz and “Texas Ted.” He said he doesn’t regret claiming that Cruz’s father, Rafael Cruz, was involved in the assassination of former President John F. Kennedy and a close associate of assassin Lee Harvey Oswald.
“I don’t regret anything,” said the president.
Trump has also previously criticized Cruz’s job performance, focused on the senator’s birthplace of Canada and remarked negatively on the appearance of Heidi Cruz, Sen. Cruz’s wife.
The president’s support for Cruz and his participation at the massive get out the vote rally planned for Monday night comes amid Cruz’s close race against Democratic challenger, Rep. Beto O’Rourke. No Democrat has won a race statewide in Texas since 1994 and O’Rourke has been fierce competitor for the seat. His campaign raised a whopping $38.1 million in the third quarter ― triple what Cruz’s team collected.
Naturally, social media had a lot to say about this latest quote:
This has been updated throughout.