October 22, 2018

Trump Rebrands “Lyin’ Ted Cruz” as “Beautiful Ted”

Newfound admiration for a man who attacked him as a “serial philanderer” and “sniveling coward.”

Ron Sachs/ZUMA

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President Donald Trump on Monday revealed a new nickname for Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Texas), a man he once repeatedly disparaged as “worse than Hillary” in addition to publicly insulting the physical appearance of his wife.

“To me, he’s not ‘Lyin Ted’ anymore. He’s ‘Beautiful Ted’,” Trump told reporters on his way to Houston, Texas, where he’s scheduled to headline a much-anticipated rally in support of Cruz.

“I call him ‘Texas Ted!'” he continued before acknowledging the highly contentious relationship he once had with his former opponent during the 2016 Republican primary for president. Still, Trump insisted that the two “got together” once the primary ended and Trump secured the party’s nomination.

The president’s about-face regarding Cruz comes as the Texas senator faces an unexpectedly tight race against Democratic challenger Rep. Beto O’Rourke just two weeks before the midterm elections. 

But any newfound admiration for Cruz appeared to have its limits. When asked Monday if he disavowed pushing a baseless conspiracy theory accusing Cruz’s father of being behind the assassination of John F. Kennedy during the 2016 Republican presidential primary, Trump pointedly responded, “I don’t regret anything. It all worked out, very nicely.”

 

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It is astonishingly hard keeping a newsroom afloat these days, and we need to raise $253,000 in online donations quickly, by October 7.

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Readers also told us to just give it to you straight when we need to ask for your support, and seeing how matter-of-factly explaining our inner workings, our challenges and finances, can bring more of you in has been a real silver lining. So our online membership lead, Brian, lays it all out for you in his personal, insider account (that literally puts his skin in the game!) of how urgent things are right now.

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