Ted Cruz Just Made One Move That Has JD Vance Seeing Red

US Senator Ted Cruz has been trying to reinvent himself as a Trump loyalist ever since he got booed off the stage at the 2016 Republican National Convention.

Now Cruz is eyeing another run at the White House.

And Ted Cruz just made one move that has JD Vance seeing red.

Cruz Positions Himself Against the Vice President

Ted Cruz wants to be President so badly he can taste it.

The Texas Senator has been quietly telling allies and donors that he's "seriously" considering another presidential bid in 2028.¹

There's just one problem: Vice President JD Vance is the overwhelming front-runner for the Republican nomination, and Cruz knows it.

So Cruz has decided to pick a fight with one of Vance's closest allies — Tucker Carlson — in hopes of creating daylight between himself and the Vice President.

Cruz has spent months attacking Carlson over his interview with Nick Fuentes, calling Carlson a "coward" who is "complicit in evil" for hosting the white nationalist commentator on his show.²

"If you sit there with someone who says Adolf Hitler was very, very cool, and that their mission is to combat and defeat global Jewry, and you say nothing, then you are a coward," Cruz declared at the Republican Jewish Coalition's annual summit.³

But this isn't really about Tucker Carlson.

Cruz has been privately criticizing Vance to Republican donors, warning that the Vice President's foreign policy views are "dangerously isolationist."⁴

The America last elite’s tired label for anyone who puts their neighbors right here in our own country ahead of handouts to foreign governments.

Cruz probably really believes that putting America First is dangerous.

But his recent maneuvering and vocalness about it are clearly all about contrasting himself and signalling to the type of donors who like America buying ammo for other nations’ armies.

Reports are they understand what Cruz is up to inside the White House.

"Clearly everything Ted has been doing for the last year has been calculated with his eyes toward 2028," a person close to the White House told NBC News.⁵

The Trump-Vance Team Fights Back

Marjorie Taylor Greene, a close ally of Carlson who represents the populist wing of the party, didn't mince words about Cruz's transparent maneuvering.

"There'll be Ted Cruz, I'm sure, running against JD Vance," Greene said of the 2028 primary. "All of us hate Ted Cruz."⁶

Carlson himself laughed off Cruz's attacks.

"All he wants is to be president. That's all he's ever wanted," Carlson said in an interview. "As a political matter, he somehow thinks that calling me a Nazi is going to get him the nomination because it's going to hurt JD Vance."⁷

The feud between Cruz and Carlson turned personal back in June when the two had a heated interview that devolved into a shouting match over Israel policy.

Cruz has also been making life difficult for the White House behind the scenes.

As chairman of the Senate Commerce Committee, Cruz has clashed with the administration over nominations and even tried to grab unilateral subpoena power that would have let him haul in Trump officials and Big Tech executives friendly with Vance.⁸

Cruz also opposed Vance's preferred choice for NASA administrator, turning the nomination into a proxy battle between the two 2028 hopefuls.⁹

The White House ultimately won that fight.

Cruz's Baggage Won't Go Away

Here's what Cruz doesn't seem to understand: Republican voters have long memories.

They remember Cruz refusing to endorse Trump at the 2016 convention and telling delegates to "vote your conscience" — a move that earned him a chorus of boos from his own party.¹⁰

They remember Trump suggesting Cruz’s father – Rafael Cruz – was involved in the JFK assassination.¹¹

And they remember Ted Cruz getting absolutely destroyed in that primary and forced to eventually crawl back and endorse Trump.

Cruz can't run as an outsider anymore.

He's been in Washington, D.C. for over a decade.

And his attempt to position himself as some kind of principled conservative warrior falls flat when everyone knows he's just angling for the top job.

Major GOP donors aren't exactly lining up behind Cruz either.

Hal Lambert, who helped organize a super PAC for Cruz's 2016 campaign, said another presidential bid would be "tricky" for the senator.¹²

Marco Rubio has already said he won't run if Vance enters the race, effectively clearing the field for the Vice President.¹³

Cruz is betting that Republican voters will abandon the "America First" foreign policy that Trump and Vance have championed in favor of the hawkish interventionism of the George W. Bush era.

That's a losing bet.

The Republican Party has fundamentally changed under Donald Trump's leadership.

Voters want border security, not endless wars overseas.

They want politicians who put America first, not ones who are obsessed with foreign entanglements.

Ted Cruz is running a 2008 campaign in a 2028 world.

And JD Vance is going to make him pay for it.

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¹ Washington Post, "Ted Cruz weighs another presidential run, setting up clash with Vance," December 22, 2025.

² The Hill, "Cruz slams GOP for not condemning Tucker Carlson over Nick Fuentes interview," November 7, 2025.

³ Algemeiner, "Ted Cruz Blasts Tucker Carlson, Nick Fuentes While Declaring a 'Time for Choosing' on Right-Wing Antisemitism," October 31, 2025.

⁴ Detroit News, "Ted Cruz weighs another presidential run, setting up clash with Vance," December 22, 2025.

⁵ NBC News, "An early 2028 fight erupts as the White House stews over Sen. Ted Cruz," November 20, 2025.

⁶ Ibid.

⁷ Axios, "Ted Cruz sets stage for 2028 run with Tucker Carlson jabs," November 17, 2025.

⁸ NOTUS, "The White House Believes Ted Cruz Is Working to Undermine Trump Due to His 2028 Ambitions," November 20, 2025.

⁹ Ibid.

¹⁰ Texas Tribune, "After famously snubbing Trump in 2016, Ted Cruz praises him on border security at RNC," July 17, 2024.

¹¹ NPR, "Ted Cruz Ends Presidential Campaign After Indiana Loss," May 4, 2016.

¹² Washington Post, "Ted Cruz weighs another presidential run, setting up clash with Vance," December 22, 2025.

¹³ Newsmax, "Ted Cruz Eyes 2028 Bid, Vance Showdown Looms," December 22, 2025.