Ted Cruz Says It’s ‘Idiotic’ for Republicans to Claim They ‘Don’t Care’ What Trump Thinks

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A question looming over the Republican Party remains the amount of influence former President Donald Trump still has. Trump is dealing with an investigation into whether he mishandled classified information after an FBI raid at Mar-a-Lago and he hasn’t confirmed a 2024 presidential run, but former critic Sen. Ted Cruz (R-TX) believes he still holds quite a sway.

The Texas senator spoke with Washington Examiner during an event in New Hampshire and said it’s “idiotic” for Republicans to pretend Trump is irrelevant going forward.

“There are a lot of candidates out there feeling their oats and boasting, ‘I’m running no matter what. I don’t care what Donald Trump says.’ Anyone who says that is lying. That’s an idiotic statement for someone to make who’s actually thinking about running,” Cruz said.

The senator ran for the Republican Party presidential nomination in a fiery campaign against Trump in 2016, but he told Examiner that he will not make his own decision about 2024 until he knows what Trump is doing, though Trump running would not be a dealbreaker for the senator’s own potential campaign.

“The whole world will change depending on what Donald Trump decides. That’s true for every candidate. That’s true of every potential candidate,” he said.

According to the report, Cruz sounded like he was in campaign mode during the event, sharing a beer with supporters at an American Legion.

From Washington Examiner:

Sen. Ted Cruz (R-TX) shook hands and posed for pictures with the crowd for an hour, then grabbed a stool at the bar at American Legion Post 27 and joined everyone for a beer. This is what running for president looks like in New Hampshire, the host of the second nominating contest and the first traditional primary on the Republican Party’s quadrennial nominating calendar.

Trump has said about his 2024 plans that he will announce a decision in the near future that will “make a lot of people very happy.”