As Donald Trump Plans To Campaign For Ted Cruz, Activists Buy Billboards To Show Trump Tweets Slamming Cruz
Donald Trump plans to travel to Texas to campaign for Senator Ted Cruz, but a group of activists plans to remind voters that the two haven’t always been so chummy.
Once thought to be a lock for re-election, Cruz now finds himself in a tight battle with challenger Beto O’Rourke, who is surging in the polls. With Republicans needing a win in Texas to hold their majority in the Senate, Donald Trump announced that he plans to travel to Texas to help shore up support for Ted Cruz. As The Hill noted, opponents are preparing as well.
Parkland school shooting survivor David Hogg is teaming up with the liberal Mad Dog PAC for a plan to raise $6,000 and purchase billboards displaying Trump’s past tweets mocking Ted Cruz. A GoFundMe campaign already topped $10,000 in just one day.
“President Donald Trump will be campaigning to help Sen. Ted Cruz win his re-election,” the page read. “A rally is being planned, according to Trump ‘at the biggest stadium in Texas.’ We are planning to display the presidents own words about Cruz from 2016 on a mobile billboard, to remind Texans of the truth.”
Ted Cruz was one of the biggest targets of Donald Trump’s attacks during the 2016 primary, as Trump branded the Texas Senator “Lyin’ Ted” and claimed that he had done nothing for the people of Texas. The feud even grew quite personal, with Trump insulting the looks of Cruz’s wife and passing along the unsubstantiated claim that Cruz’s father was part of the conspiracy to assassinate President John F. Kennedy.
David Hogg raises thousands to place billboard of Trump's anti-Cruz tweet in Texas https://t.co/GQ1ckbrr3z pic.twitter.com/G54sq0lHzH
— The Hill (@thehill) September 2, 2018
Donald Trump’s endorsement has been a mixed bag. While his support has helped some GOP candidates, including Florida gubernatorial candidate Ron DeSantis in his primary, others have not found a boost from Trump.
Ted Cruz appears in need of some help as opponent Beto O’Rourke builds his campaign and starts to take on a national stature. As CNBC noted, O’Rourke has surged in polls and created a toss-up in what has long been a reliably Republican state.
“By mid-August, a large statewide NBC News/Marist poll was showing O’Rourke trailing Cruz by just four points among registered voters. (The poll’s margin of error was 3.8 percent for registered voters.) The relatively unknown congressman is now close to tying his race with Cruz, a feat that would have been considered impossible just a few months ago.”
Donald Trump has not said exactly when he plans to travel to Texas to campaign for Ted Cruz, but the billboards will likely be waiting for him when he gets there.
