Sen. Ted Cruz made clear that he doesn’t believe that J.D. Vance is the inevitable 2028 Republican nominee.
The Texas senator was asked Tuesday on MS Now’s Way Too Early whether the Republican party had already lined up behind the vice president to be the presidential nominee.
“Oh, no!” Cruz exclaimed. “There’s going to be a full discussion about who we are and what we believe.”
The MAGA senator said he will support the most conservative candidate who can win.
“I look at number one, what’s their record? Have they been a conservative? Have they been principled?”
When asked whether he would be a part of those discussions, Cruz responded vaguely, “There will be time to figure that out.”
Journalist Ali Vitali asked if the 2028 candidate will have to be MAGA.
“They have to have a path to win. And so there is no Never Trump lane,” Cruz said.
The Texas Republican praised Donald Trump, calling him an “extraordinary president” and “fearless” but said, “I wish sometimes there was more message discipline and focus.”
He said within the conservative party, there’s debates about how the party should define itself.
“Are we a small government free market conservative party? Are we a big government state party?” He asked.
“Trump is a black swan event. He is a unique historical figure. There’s never been anyone like him. I don’t think there’ll be anyone like him going forward,” Cruz said. “And we’re going to have over the next several years a conversation among Republicans.”
Cruz noted that the Democrats are in the “midst of a civil war” with the Democratic Socialists of America.
The senator has not addressed whether he would run for president himself in 2028. In 2016, he finished second to Trump in the Republican primary.
