Ted Cruz in 2024?

After coming second in the 2016 GOP primaries, Ted Cruz (R-TX) seems a likely pick for 2024. Though he’s waiting for Trump’s decision to run or not, it’s no secret that Cruz wants the position.

According to NBC News:

During the second term of the Obama administration, Cruz, newly elected to the Senate, rose to prominence by trying to obstruct the president’s agenda, leading a government shutdown and infuriating members of both parties. He lost the 2016 Republican primary campaign to Trump, a race that turned deeply personal as Trump attacked his wife and parents.

Soon after, he went from refusing to endorse Trump on the floor of the Republican convention to becoming one of his stalwart defenders in Congress. He also worked to mend fences with his fellow Senate Republicans, many of whom publicly trashed him for not being much of a team player.

When Trump called on lawmakers of his own party to try to stop Biden’s election, it was Cruz who led a group to object to the certified electoral votes on Jan. 6, 2021 — sticking with his objections even after a pro-Trump mob’s deadly attack on the Capitol. (Asked whether, one year later, he now feels confident in the results after no evidence of widespread fraud materialized, Cruz responded, “Of course not.”)

Still, there’s only so much Cruz can do in a GOP in which much of the infrastructure is still centered on Trump. Rick Tyler, who was the communications director for Cruz’s 2016 campaign, said Cruz “does not know how to navigate the political ground that Donald Trump has now created, which is only destructive to the Republican Party.”

Ron Nehring, a spokesman for Cruz’s 2016 bid, said, however, that it would be a “mistake” to count Cruz out as the GOP enters the next election cycle. “It’s a mistake, and an oft-repeated mistake, to discount Sen. Cruz and what he’s been able to accomplish and what he can accomplish,” Nehring said.

Readers, we want to hear from you! Would you support Ted Cruz if Donald Trump does not run in 2024? Would you support him even if Trump does run? Is there a better candidate not mentioned here? Sound off in the comments.